Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by Strengthening Families & Communities LLC

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,171 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.3% of Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its position in Apple by 34.3% in the third 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. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $222.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.70. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm 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 business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders 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 was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Four investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.