Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,964 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first 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. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the fourth 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. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Cfra lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.50 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.75.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Company 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.