Delta Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 70,585 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.8% of Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Apple Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.48. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.27.

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.