JB Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

JB Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,594 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,099 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.5% of JB Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. JB Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. SigFig Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Shariaportfolio Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sharpepoint LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Melius upped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 0.0%

AAPL opened at $270.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.70. 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 results 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.