Strategic Advocates LLC Buys 1,567 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Strategic Advocates LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.5% during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $7.43 million and making Apple the firm's 10th largest position.
• Apple's stock opened at $245.50 and reported a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, with a recent earnings report showing a 9.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $94.04 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,222 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.2% of Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.03.

Apple Stock Up 4.3%

Apple stock traded up $10.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $256.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,286,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,632,036. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.10. 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 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 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 $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.