Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is CX Institutional’s 8th Largest Position

CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,820 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 15,270 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.6% of CX Institutional’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. CX Institutional’s holdings in Apple were worth $34,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 117,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,846,000 after acquiring an additional 14,868 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 27,066 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,701,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 156,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,074,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares in the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 31,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,632,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.30.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $229.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.