Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lifted by Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 113,938 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.6% of Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $228.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued 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 yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.