Joseph Group Capital Management Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,435 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,733 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.6% of Joseph Group Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Joseph Group Capital Management's holdings in Apple were worth $4,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,035,283,000 after buying an additional 432,140 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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 MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Trading Up 4.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $9.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $239.16. 49,598,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,089,918. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.