Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by Wealth Architects LLC

Wealth Architects LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,052 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.8% of Wealth Architects LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Wealth Architects LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $42,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $240.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.