Archer Investment Corp Purchases 82 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.0% of Archer Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the first 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. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,061,296,000 after acquiring an additional 485,873 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Apple by 16.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,993,042 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,085,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,138 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,247,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,951,297,000 after purchasing an additional 415,186 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $232.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.39. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.