Kerusso Capital Management LLC Has $4.60 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kerusso Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,748 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.9% of Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake 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 buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.52. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush lifted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

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.