Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,176 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.2% of Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $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 $229.98 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $241.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a PEG 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.