Modera Wealth Management LLC Buys 4,312 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 890,979 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,312 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.6% of Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $207,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $258.20 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $235.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.77. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $258.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.