Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Increased by United Advisor Group LLC

United Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,684 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.6% of United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.70 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $239.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.