Apella Capital LLC Acquires 70,529 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 62.0% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 70,529 shares, bringing their total to 184,366 shares valued at approximately $38.7 million.
• Insider trading was reported with SVP Deirdre O’Brien selling 34,821 shares of Apple stock for around $7.77 million, reducing their ownership by 20.30%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Apple, with a consensus price target of $242.74 and most analysts rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy".

Apella Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 184,366 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 70,529 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.0% of Apella Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $38,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $10.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $255.75. The stock had a trading volume of 78,479,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,414,145. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.