Scratch Capital LLC Acquires 206 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Scratch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,194 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Scratch Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in 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 last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $254.43 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $229.71 and a 200 day moving average of $213.51. 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 issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.66.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.