Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 350,341 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 112,624 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $73,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $222.19 and a 200 day moving average of $202.16. The company has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.76.

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.