Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,649 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,550 shares during the period. Apple makes up 6.2% of Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $234.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $228.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.23. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

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.