Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Private Advisor Group LLC's Largest Position

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,279,719 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 28,488 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.3% of Private Advisor Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $531,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $4.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $254.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 145,580,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.48. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $255.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Melius Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.