Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Increased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 404,599 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,082 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.2% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $94,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.02.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.