Arkansas Financial Group Inc. Has $1.78 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Arkansas Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,465 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 14,651,321 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $237.61 and its 200 day moving average is $215.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given 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 currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

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.