Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Wright Investors Service Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,347 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 5,841 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $20,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the period. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. now owns 71,286 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,224,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 34.8% during the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,980 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 24.5% in the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 207,788 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $35,615,000 after acquiring an additional 40,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 15.9% in the first quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $229.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,135,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,095,512. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.45%.

Apple Company 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.