Claro Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,266 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,117 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.7% of Claro Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% in 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 grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. 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 price of $240.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

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.