Arvest Investments Inc. Purchases 779 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Arvest Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 779 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Apple stock opened at $238.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $223.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.36.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.93.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.