S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,788 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.6% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 209.2% during the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Two research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.74.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.50 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.