Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 52.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,764 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,412 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.4% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $96,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $278.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $280.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $263.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.59.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 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.