Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Lifted by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its investments in Apple Inc. by 2.9%, holding 385,015 shares worth approximately $85.52 million, making it the largest position in its portfolio.
• Apple reported a fiscal earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue reaching $94.04 billion, a 9.6% increase from the same period last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, yielding 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 15.78% as of the most recent financial disclosures.

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 385,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 11,007 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.9% of Vestcor Inc's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $85,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $239.69. 54,829,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.28 and a 200-day moving average of $212.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. 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.