Zhang Financial LLC Has $46.52 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Zhang Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of Zhang Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $46,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in Apple by 15.2% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 149,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,768,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $243.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $244.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.