Clarity Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clarity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 148.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,096 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 655 shares during the quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.22 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

About Apple

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.