Paladin Wealth LLC Acquires 983 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Paladin Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.3% of Paladin Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.74.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $224.35 and its 200 day moving average is $212.42. 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 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.