Sara Bay Financial Purchases 1,021 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sara Bay Financial increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.9% of Sara Bay Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Heritage Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 12,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,678,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in Apple by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 392,328 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $75,535,000 after purchasing an additional 40,295 shares during the last quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 421,744 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $81,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $2,418,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Cfra increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $228.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.45 and a 200-day moving average of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.