Talbot Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,843 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 10.7% of Talbot Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Talbot Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $88,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Apple by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 583,413 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $135,935,000 after buying an additional 14,969 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.2% during the third quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 42,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,979,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.8% in the third quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 44,787 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 4,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,926,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.