Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 68.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 948,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 386,953 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.5% of J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $210,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business'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 value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.67 on Thursday, reaching $237.81. 23,367,216 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,619,613. 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 twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $217.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.92.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis 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.