Joel Adams & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Joel Adams & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,563 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,393,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of Joel Adams & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the period. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $211.21. 35,359,019 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,615,799. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.11 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $214.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.31.

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.