Investment Advisory Group LLC Acquires 286 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Investment Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised 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 buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Apple by 158.3% in 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 buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group upped 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. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $243.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $244.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. 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 fifty day moving average price of $230.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.05.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.