Investment Planning Advisors Inc. Purchases New Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Investment Planning Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 value 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 $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $228.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $222.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

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.