Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,185,450 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,185,450 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $460,299,000. Apple accounts for 3.3% of Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

AAPL opened at $225.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.