Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.5% of Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $255.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.41. 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 results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. CLSA raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.