Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Acquires 519 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $248.13 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $250.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $232.50 and its 200-day moving average is $223.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Company 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.