Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Buys 519 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.2% of Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 137,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,560,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 54.6% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 209,343 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,898,000 after purchasing an additional 73,909 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.9% during the first quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 37,490 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 134,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,047,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $248.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $250.80.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

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.