Old Port Advisors Buys 770 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Old Port Advisors grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.5% of Old Port Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $8,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 3,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kwmg LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 10,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $222.50 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.