LGT Group Foundation Acquires 652,931 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 53.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,865,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 652,931 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.9% of LGT Group Foundation’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Apple were worth $392,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory grew its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Lowery Thomas LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $231.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $226.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.34. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.