Goldstone Financial Group LLC Acquires 7,591 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,591 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.74.

Apple Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.42. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict 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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

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.