Grantvest Financial Group LLC Invests $3.37 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Grantvest Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,459 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,370,000. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Grantvest Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 82,293 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $19,174,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 73,567 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $17,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 317,612 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $74,004,000 after acquiring an additional 30,434 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 22,627 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 43,691 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.02.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $203.92. 46,477,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,141,787. The stock's fifty day moving average is $201.56 and its 200 day moving average is $224.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

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.