Austin Asset Management Co Inc Buys 215 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Austin Asset Management Co Inc raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,148 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.2% of Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $240.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

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.