Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by RiverFront Investment Group LLC

RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,203 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.5% of RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $58,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $225.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.