Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 406,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,355 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.8% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $83,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 158,901 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,602,000 after purchasing an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC now owns 10,715 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,944 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 133,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,390,000 after purchasing an additional 14,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mustard Seed Financial LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC now owns 10,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $239.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.