USA Financial Formulas Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

USA Financial Formulas increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24,100.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,230 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.3% of USA Financial Formulas’ holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Apple were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $235.06 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.01. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

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.