RMR Wealth Builders Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 5.8% in Q2, now holding 127,314 shares valued at $26.12 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Norges Bank and Vanguard Group, made significant changes to their positions in Apple, with 67.73% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Apple's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57, exceeding expectations, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, representing an annual yield of 0.4%.

RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 127,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 6,925 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.4% of RMR Wealth Builders' portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. RMR Wealth Builders' holdings in Apple were worth $26,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $7.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $245.50. 163,435,991 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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%. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.74.

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.