Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 55.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,136 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,155 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’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 directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $247.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $240.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.66. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 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.