Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 98,586 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,302 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.3% of Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $130,629,000 after buying an additional 17,519 shares during the period. Lavaca Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 171.4% during the first quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 42,930 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,362,000 after buying an additional 27,111 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 97.3% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 157,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,065,000 after buying an additional 77,819 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 822,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $140,986,000 after acquiring an additional 10,031 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $253.48 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $253.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $233.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.69, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction 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 approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.