Clearstead Trust LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 75,559 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,899 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.0% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $876,000. WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,057,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,526,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,776,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.01 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $227.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.03. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 145.09%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Cfra raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

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.