Diversify Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,923 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.3% of Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC now owns 9,719 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,047,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the second quarter. Tlwm now owns 16,089 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $11,526,000. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 83,241 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $250.42 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,435 shares of company stock valued at $39,376,002 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued 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.

About Apple

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.