Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.8% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $130,629,000 after buying an additional 17,519 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 105,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,159,000 after buying an additional 9,133 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 57.3% in the first quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 41,504 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,117,000 after buying an additional 15,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $496,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $254.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $255.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.