Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Ethos Financial Group LLC

Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.8% of Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 5th Street Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 14,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Cowa LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 37,259 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,681,000 after buying an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 264,322 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $61,587,000 after acquiring an additional 3,604 shares during the period. Finally, Resolute Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25.5% during the third quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $211.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $206.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.