Parker Financial LLC Purchases 359 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Parker Financial LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,121 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.4% of Parker Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Parker Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the second 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 lifted its position in Apple by 209.2% during the first 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 holdings in Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $269.43 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $277.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $253.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

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.