Balentine LLC Has $14.93 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Balentine LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 12.5%, owning a total of 67,195 shares worth approximately $14.93 million.
• Recently, Apple reported $1.57 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieved revenue of $94.04 billion, a 9.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing a 0.4% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Balentine LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,195 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,445 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.6% of Balentine LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Balentine LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $14,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 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 dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $7.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.02. 40,885,420 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,657,605. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $216.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 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 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.73.

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.