Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Boosted by Bfsg LLC

Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,418 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.0% of Bfsg LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,870,795,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651,321 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $258.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $233.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.69. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.49.

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.