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

Northwest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,694 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.5% of Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 287,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,576,000 after acquiring an additional 7,321 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Apple by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 118,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,980,000 after acquiring an additional 43,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 14,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $229.98 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.65. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.