Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires 4,443 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Essex Financial Services Inc. acquired an additional 4,443 shares of Apple Inc., increasing its total holdings to 327,819 shares, making Apple the largest position in their investment portfolio at approximately $67.3 million.
• Apple reported a quarterly EPS of $1.57, which exceeded analysts' expectations of $1.43, and had a revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, surpassing the anticipated $88.64 billion.
• Brokerages have adjusted their price targets for Apple, with estimates ranging from $241 to $298, reflecting a consensus of analyst ratings that suggest a stable outlook for the stock.

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 327,819 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,443 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.4% of Essex Financial Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $67,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Apple by 573,627.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Apple by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,870,795,000 after buying an additional 14,651,321 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $254.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $236.75 and a 200 day moving average of $215.77. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. 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 announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. 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 report on Wednesday, September 10th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, CLSA raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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