Core Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Core Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,870 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 9.6% of Core Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Core Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,496,738,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $229.98 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $241.01 and a 200 day moving average of $230.65. 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 $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % 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.

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.