Apella Capital LLC Purchases 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 boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 62.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,366 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 70,529 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.0% of Apella Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $38,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

AAPL stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $256.29. The company had a trading volume of 13,480,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,306,352. 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. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $225.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.03.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.