Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.77 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,366 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.4% of Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $262.77 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.74. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $265.29. 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 cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.87, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.09.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 presently 15.78%.

Apple Company 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.