Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 80,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.9% of SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Apple by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. BCU Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. BCU Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Etfidea LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Etfidea LLC now owns 15,853 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,718,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westchester Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Westchester Capital Management Inc. now owns 175,926 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,168,000 after buying an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $234.93 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $228.71 and its 200-day moving average is $219.12. The firm has a market capitalization 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 current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.