Apple Inc. $AAPL is PFG Advisors’ Largest Position

PFG Advisors boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,449 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,717 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.4% of PFG Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $42,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $229.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.99 and a 200 day moving average of $212.75. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.37.

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.