Founders Financial Securities LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,870 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.8% of Founders Financial Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Brown Financial Advisory increased its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.6% during the second quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. 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 this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital raised 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 report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

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.