Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by Ballew Advisors Inc

Ballew Advisors Inc boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,758 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.1% of Ballew Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.74.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $224.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.42.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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