Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 216 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,753 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 288,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $66,035,000 after buying an additional 10,951 shares during the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 46,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,446 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,098,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 132,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,950,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 163,435 shares of company stock valued at $39,376,002. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $250.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $238.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.