Kera Capital Partners Inc. Buys 4,086 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Kera Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 35.1% during the second quarter, bringing their total shares to 15,727, valued at $3,227,000.
• Apple's latest quarterly earnings showed a 9.6% revenue increase year-over-year, totaling $94.04 billion with an EPS of $1.57, exceeding estimates.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,727 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,086 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $242.74.

Apple Stock Up 3.2%

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $7.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $245.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 163,435,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $224.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.42. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.