Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 459,427 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,834 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.9% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Apple were worth $96,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 3,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kwmg LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 10,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.17.

Apple Stock Down 2.8 %

AAPL stock opened at $216.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $199.00. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.