Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter, owning 105,201 shares valued at $21,584,000.
• Several hedge funds also increased their stakes in Apple, with GC Wealth Management RIA LLC posting the largest increase of 106.2%, now holding 228,720 shares worth $46,926,000.
• Apple's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57, exceeding estimates, with quarterly revenue rising 9.6% year-over-year to $94.04 billion.

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,201 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 17,857 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.0% of Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $21,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 228,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $46,926,000 after acquiring an additional 117,785 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management increased its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 23,739 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,871,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 51,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,512,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. R.H. Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. R.H. Investment Group LLC now owns 21,725 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,457,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 184,657 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $37,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $205.82 to $205.16 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $249.34 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $240.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.49. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

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