Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 116.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,119 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after acquiring an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 15.5% during the first quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,740,000 after purchasing an additional 6,050 shares in the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC raised its stake in Apple by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 182,115 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,229,000 after purchasing an additional 15,853 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Apple by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 285,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,031,000 after purchasing an additional 59,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 417.6% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $248.13 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $250.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $232.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 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 expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Company 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.