Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Buys 3,010 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,286 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,010 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.9% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,790,933,000 after purchasing an additional 984,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $270.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $248.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% 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 valued at $65,358,981 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.39.

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.