Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by HBW Advisory Services LLC

HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Apple by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 58,152 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,549,000 after buying an additional 16,746 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 22,619 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in Apple by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 160,653 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $37,432,000 after purchasing an additional 11,213 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 187.4% in the third quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 33,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,773,000 after buying an additional 21,755 shares during the period. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 22.1% during the third quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 46,161 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,756,000 after buying an additional 8,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $227.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.40. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.