Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,935 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,303,000. Apple makes up about 1.7% of Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $226.75 and its 200 day moving average is $215.45. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cfra boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.