Elser Financial Planning Inc Invests $5.27 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Elser Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 25,025 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,271,000. Apple comprises about 0.8% of Elser Financial Planning Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.20 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.41. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment 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 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 $239.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. 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.

Apple 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.