KPP Advisory Services LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,193 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.4% of KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $227.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. 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%.

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.