Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by OmniStar Financial Group Inc.

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.8% of OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $150,975,907,000 after purchasing an additional 20,424,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 16,638.6% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $94,566,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total value of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total value of $5,661,792.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,237,944.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total transaction of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at $565,809,142.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 455,004 shares of company stock valued at $79,238,767. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $168.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.97. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, October 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Apple in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.40.

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.