AlphaQ Advisors LLC Acquires 130 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

AlphaQ Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. AlphaQ Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $147,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’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 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. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $234.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $221.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.39. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

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.