Prospect Financial Services LLC Boosts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prospect Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,524 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.9% of Prospect Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after acquiring an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Addison Capital Co grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the first quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 27,345 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 193,732 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,221,000 after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 553,963 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $94,994,000 after buying an additional 16,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 850,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $145,781,000 after buying an additional 16,495 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.68.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $243.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $244.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.05.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.