Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lifted by Alley Investment Management Company LLC

Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.4% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

AAPL stock opened at $252.29 on Friday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.81. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted 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. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.