Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Increased by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 584.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,473,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,111,502 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.2% of World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $576,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $3,331,000. Fortress Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.1% in the second quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,458,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 136,338 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,716,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Golden Road Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Golden Road Advisors LLC now owns 8,334 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cook Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cook Wealth LLC now owns 18,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 10,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $241.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.13. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.