Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Boosted by Channel Wealth LLC

Channel Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.3% of Channel Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Channel Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $252.31 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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