Carter Financial Group INC. Invests $5.22 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Carter Financial Group INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 25,456 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,000. Apple makes up approximately 3.4% of Carter Financial Group INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Melius increased their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DZ Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.51.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.28 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $268.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.28. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.