Ignite Planners LLC Boosts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Ignite Planners LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 54.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 109,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,585 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.6% of Ignite Planners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.37.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $229.72 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $216.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.75. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.