AdvisorShares Investments LLC Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.63 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.86. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $280.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.