Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,597 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.8% of Ethos Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Ethos Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 14,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,297,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the third quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 37,259 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,681,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Resolute Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 25.5% during the third quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Stock Down 0.1%
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $211.26. The company had a trading volume of 53,614,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,938,270. The firm's 50 day moving average is $206.09 and its 200 day moving average is $226.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.
Apple Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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