Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Narwhal Capital Management

Narwhal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.8% of Narwhal Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Apple were worth $64,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in Apple by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 149,219 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,768,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $254.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 145,580,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $255.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $234.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.48. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.78.

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.