Avondale Wealth Management Purchases 450 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.2% of Avondale Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Avondale Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.33 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $229.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.02. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.