Financial Security Advisor Inc. Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Financial Security Advisor Inc. raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.5% of Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Apple by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,870,795,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651,321 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Apple by 14.3% in 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $270.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $249.99 and its 200 day moving average is $223.37. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $277.32.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

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.