Valued Retirements Inc. Acquires New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Valued Retirements Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 15,184 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,538,000. Apple accounts for approximately 4.9% of Valued Retirements Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,726,000. Vestcor Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 55,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,927,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,824,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 207,656 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $48,384,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $240.82 and a 200 day moving average of $231.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.