SRN Advisors LLC Acquires 222 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SRN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the quarter. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 168.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 268 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.63.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.44. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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.