Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Increases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,789 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.9% of Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. lifted its position in Apple by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 4.0% during the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $283.10 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $283.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.96, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius Research set a $345.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. CLSA raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple 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.