Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Raised by Dana Investment Advisors Inc.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 587,099 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 28,036 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.2% of Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $123,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second 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 raised its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 161.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $227.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

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.