Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Boosted by Cypress Wealth Services LLC

Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 133,518 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 817 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.4% of Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.