Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $61.94 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 265,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.2% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $61,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Apple by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,035,283,000 after purchasing an additional 432,140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $240.93 and its 200-day moving average is $230.68. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents 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

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

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.