Apple Inc. $AAPL is S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter, now holding 70,788 shares valued at approximately $14.5 million, making it Apple's 2nd largest holding in their portfolio.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Apple, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.74, reflecting both bullish and cautious outlooks for the stock.
• Apple recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.4%, and reported a quarterly revenue of $94.04 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations significantly.

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,788 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 6,696 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.6% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $14,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 4.2%

AAPL traded up $10.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $255.78. 78,479,784 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,414,145. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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 research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.03.

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.