Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 660,153 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 16,091 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.3% of Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $153,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 344,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,494,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 2.6% during the second quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 287,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,576,000 after purchasing an additional 7,321 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apple by 57.1% in the second quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 118,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 43,123 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 524,633 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,498,000 after purchasing an additional 14,213 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

AAPL stock opened at $229.98 on Friday. 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 $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.65.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current 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 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 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple 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.