Kozak & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,163 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.8% of Kozak & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its stake in shares of Apple by 15.2% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 149,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,768,000 after purchasing an additional 19,670 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $247.77 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 company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $230.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $248.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

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.