Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Buys 2,579 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 205,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.5% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $47,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its position in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $241.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 corporate insiders.

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.