Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $34.78 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 154,131 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 563 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.3% of Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $34,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 35,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 17,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,005,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. GenTrust LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 123,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 306,430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $71,398,000 after acquiring an additional 11,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $84,369,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Finally, Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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 $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.