Tiller Private Wealth Inc. Boosts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Tiller Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Apple Inc. by 8.7% during the second quarter, owning 35,711 shares valued at approximately $7.3 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including First National Bank of Hutchinson and Brighton Jones LLC, also raised their holdings in Apple, highlighting strong interest from hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Analyst ratings for Apple have improved, with several firms upgrading the stock and setting price targets up to $290, indicating a general consensus of a Moderate Buy rating.

Tiller Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,711 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,857 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.8% of Tiller Private Wealth Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Tiller Private Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $7,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. CLSA upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $247.66 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.50 and a 200-day moving average of $216.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 15.78%.

Apple 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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