Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lifted by James J. Burns & Company LLC

James J. Burns & Company LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,839 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,388 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of James J. Burns & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. James J. Burns & Company LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in Apple by 7.3% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.70 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $239.57 and a 200-day moving average of $229.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.