BLB&B Advisors LLC Has $63.56 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 309,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,760 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of BLB&B Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $63,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.5%

AAPL opened at $283.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.96, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $283.42. 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 data 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 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Apple 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.