Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Sandy Cove Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.8% in Q2, making Apple its 6th largest position with 60,631 shares valued at $12.44 million.
• Insider trading revealed that SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 34,821 shares for approximately $7.77 million, reducing her ownership by 20.30%.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus rating for Apple, with a current target price of $242.74 from a mix of buy and hold ratings.

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,631 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.5% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $12,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 1st 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 grew its stake in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $10.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $256.08. 105,286,841 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,632,036. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.