Northstar Advisory Group LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 47.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.9% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after purchasing an additional 485,873 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Apple by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,993,042 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,085,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,138 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,247,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,951,297,000 after purchasing an additional 415,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.15 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $225.41 and a 200-day moving average of $207.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Maxim Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

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.