Apple Inc. $AAPL is Emerald Advisors LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,017 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.6% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, 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 have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $252.29 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.81. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.29.

Apple Profile

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.