Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC Acquires 418 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,728 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.8% of Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised 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 last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 100.6% in the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 83,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.67 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $222.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.50. 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 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 458,619 shares of company stock valued at $101,352,630. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

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.