Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.3% of Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.76.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $222.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

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.