Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Wright Investors Service Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,755 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.5% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 469,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $98,826,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 8,917 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Evolution Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 5,581 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the second quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 91,862 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,348,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Presidio Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.0% during the second quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC now owns 10,338 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,619 shares of company stock valued at $101,352,630 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.90 and a 200 day moving average of $204.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.76.

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.