Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 42,750 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 846,551 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 42,750 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.1% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $197,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its stake in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $241.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wedbush raised their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.02.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.