Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Raised by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. McAdam LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 52,042 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,192,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,631 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,786,000 after buying an additional 8,693 shares in the last quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 86,706 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,983,000 after buying an additional 2,311 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,675 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,069,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the third quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 128,324 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Apple from $160.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 5th. Fundamental Research boosted their price objective on Apple to $168.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 176,299 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.95, for a total transaction of $27,493,829.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,673 shares in the company, valued at $17,259,454.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 20,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.72, for a total transaction of $3,004,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,685,423.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 176,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.95, for a total value of $27,493,829.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,673 shares in the company, valued at $17,259,454.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $141.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.14. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The iPhone maker reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $90.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.77 billion. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 4th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Apple Company Profile

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Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. In addition, 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.