3,202 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by Copley Financial Group Inc.

Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,202 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $746,000. Apple accounts for 0.7% of Copley Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Absher Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 113,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,328 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.0% during the second quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,598,000 after purchasing an additional 6,750 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,309 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 17,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,709,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $244.60 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $240.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.