Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.8% of Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 83,965 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were 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 was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.