Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 55,013 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $11,587,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $4,442,000. Souders Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 77,003 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,283 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 15,725,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,312,103,000 after purchasing an additional 84,252 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 587,099 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,655,000 after purchasing an additional 28,036 shares during the period. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,915,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $227.04 and its 200 day moving average is $216.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

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.