Balefire LLC Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Balefire LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 72.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,126 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,788 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.3% of Balefire LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 28.3% in the first 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 period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.03.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $254.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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