Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 358 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,724 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.5% of Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 3.2 %

Apple stock opened at $229.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price target (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.