Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,337,633 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 65,927 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.3% of Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $311,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.4% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,526,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,848 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $248.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $254.28. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $234.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.