Albion Financial Group UT Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 348,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.6% of Albion Financial Group UT’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Apple were worth $81,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.93 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Apple Company 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.