Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lifted by Aldebaran Financial Inc.

Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 8.6% of Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marmo Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 56.5% during the first quarter. Marmo Financial Group LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.5% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.7% during the first quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 63,356 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares in the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the first quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 104,140 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $227.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.96. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Apple

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.