Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Advisory Alpha LLC

Key Points

• Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.2%, owning a total of 129,951 shares worth approximately $28.87 million, making it the firm's 26th biggest position.
• Apple recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.57 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.43, with a revenue of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, which was paid on August 14, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 129,951 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,968 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.0% of Advisory Alpha LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $28,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.77.

Apple Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $1.68 on Tuesday, hitting $238.38. The stock had a trading volume of 36,160,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,675,254. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.99. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.