Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,680 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.0% of Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 462,890 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 118,904 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,044,000 after purchasing an additional 4,365 shares during the period. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the second quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP now owns 8,536 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,252,860 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $895,737,000 after buying an additional 37,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $236.48 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.16 and a 200 day moving average of $208.86. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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.