Seek First Inc. Has $24.98 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Seek First Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 121,726 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,383 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 20.2% of Seek First Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Seek First Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $24,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $205.16 price objective (down from $205.82) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.49.

Apple Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $258.02 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $233.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.69.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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 was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.

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