Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Boosted by Opulen Financial Group LLC

Opulen Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,956 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the quarter. Opulen Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in 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. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $270.37 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.34 and a 200-day moving average of $222.15. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Argus set a $325.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.39.

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.