Nvest Financial LLC Has $7.85 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Nvest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,250 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.1% of Nvest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $272.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Weiss Ratings upgraded Apple from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Melius raised their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

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.