Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Increased by Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,791 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.6% of Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $239.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.