Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Increased by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 12.6%, now owning 631,655 shares valued at approximately $140 million.
• Apple reported a quarterly EPS of $1.57, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $94.04 billion, a 9.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, yielding approximately 0.4%, and has a current dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 631,655 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 70,669 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.1% of Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $140,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $239.69. The stock had a trading volume of 54,829,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.05.

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.