Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 298.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,345 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,406 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 9.5% of Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $251.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.