Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 484,634 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 7.4% of Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $102,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Kwmg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 10,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Greylin Investment Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Greylin Investment Management Inc now owns 16,711 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,866,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,036 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,436,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $220.32 and a 200 day moving average of $194.44. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid 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 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.63.

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.