Ethos Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 54,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.8% of Ethos Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $211.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.80.

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.