Smith Group Asset Management LLC Purchases 12,130 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 248,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.8% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $57,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $255.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

Apple 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.