Ascent Group LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 210,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,486 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.6% of Ascent Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $44,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.22 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $226.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.