McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,018 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust boosted its position in Apple by 2.4% in the 2nd 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. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 209.2% in the 1st 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. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

AAPL opened at $269.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.85. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius boosted their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.