Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,976 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,947 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 24,338 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 44,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,454,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 43,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $14,534,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.