Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Versant Capital Management Inc

Key Points

• Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Apple Inc. by acquiring an additional 1,529 shares, raising its total holdings to 50,239 shares, which represents around 1.6% of their portfolio.
• Apple reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.57, surpassing analyst expectations, and its revenue grew by 9.6% year-over-year to reach $94.04 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, translating to an annual yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,239 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.6% of Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $10,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a 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 issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $242.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $7.62 on Friday, hitting $245.50. The stock had a trading volume of 163,435,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $224.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 for 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%.Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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