Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Boosted by Beta Wealth Group Inc.

Beta Wealth Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,876 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baker Boyer National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.09.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $278.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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