Apple Inc. $AAPL is Merit Financial Group LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 735,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 66,014 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.7% of Merit Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $150,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $268.81 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $269.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 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 analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.83.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.