Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Acquires 12,204 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 39.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,098 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 12,204 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.'s holdings in Apple were worth $10,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.47.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $3.39 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $252.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 35,435,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,203,777. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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 that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.