Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Boosted by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,010 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.0% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $50,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $233.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.52. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.