Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.4% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,695,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the second quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $277.55 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $261.82 and its 200 day moving average is $230.80. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $280.38. 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 cap of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.12, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Phillip Securities lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

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.