Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 16,687 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 481,952 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 16,687 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.0% of Gradient Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $122,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,705 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,217,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,939,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 200,454 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $51,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,028 shares during the last quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.3% in the third quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,872 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 22.7% during the third quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 46,562 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,856,000 after purchasing an additional 8,616 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Argus set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.92.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.19 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.81.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

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.