Independence Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Independence Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,619 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000. Apple comprises 0.6% of Independence Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.05.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

AAPL stock opened at $239.78 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. 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 company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $218.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.