Kathmere Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,354 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.6% of Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew 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 valued at $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $228.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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 current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Corporate 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.