Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,055 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.03.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $243.36 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.87. 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 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.