Ellerson Group Inc. ADV Sells 787 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ellerson Group Inc. ADV cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,379 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 787 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.6% of Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $231.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. 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 currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.91.

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.