Vicus Capital Raises Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Vicus Capital lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,842 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.9% of Vicus Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction 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 approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was 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 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $262.77 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $265.29. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.09. 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’s 50 day moving average is $242.49 and its 200 day moving average is $217.74.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.47.

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.