Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,855 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,497 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.7% of Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. Brady Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 118,651 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,844,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,735,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the period. NFC Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $607,000. Finally, Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 28,951 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $226.80 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $222.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 458,619 shares of company stock valued at $101,352,630 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reissued a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.76.

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.