Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.7% of Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. raised its stake in Apple by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during 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. American National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $271.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $259.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

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.