Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s Largest Position

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 371,427 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,480 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.2% of Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $72,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 116,483.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after buying an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Apple by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after buying an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $150,975,907,000 after purchasing an additional 20,424,207 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 16,638.6% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $94,566,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500,812 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $188.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.47. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $89.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.34 billion. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.78%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total transaction of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.04, for a total transaction of $884,496.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,383,795.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total transaction of $41,498,152.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at $565,809,142.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 444,391 shares of company stock worth $77,370,046. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Piper Sandler Companies raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.82.

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.