Nwam LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nwam LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 306,430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,922 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.4% of Nwam LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,162,000 after buying an additional 36,507 shares during the period. Instrumental Wealth LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 6,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.2% during the second quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 44,911 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,459,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the period. Bensler LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 129,780 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,334,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Edge Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 10,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,177,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.86. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

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.