Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Purchases 399 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.9% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $254.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $230.51 and a 200 day moving average of $213.80. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.51.

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.