Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.8% of Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the second 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 period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $240.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.10.

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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.