Weaver Consulting Group Buys 906 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Weaver Consulting Group increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.7% of Weaver Consulting Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Weaver Consulting Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $227.65 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $241.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.13.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 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. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple 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.