Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,584 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.7% of Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Center For Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 53.3% in the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 21,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 7,616 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.3% in the first quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 785,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $129,447,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,399,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 22.2% in the second quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,919,534 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $646,332,000 after purchasing an additional 89,615 shares during the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.04, for a total transaction of $884,496.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,383,795.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.04, for a total transaction of $884,496.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,383,795.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 444,391 shares of company stock valued at $77,370,046 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $189.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.78%. The business had revenue of $89.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.25.

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.