Kure Advisory LLC Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kure Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of Kure Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Kure Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its stake in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 100.6% in the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 83,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.62.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $220.82 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $223.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.36.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.