Riverstone Advisors LLC Purchases 344 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,316 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 344 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.0% of Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.20 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $199.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.