Lowery Thomas LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lowery Thomas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Lowery Thomas LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Lowery Thomas LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,061,296,000 after acquiring an additional 485,873 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apple by 16.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,993,042 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,085,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,138 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,247,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,951,297,000 after acquiring an additional 415,186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $235.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. 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 prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Cfra boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

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.