Brightwater Advisory LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,360,000. Apple makes up 1.7% of Brightwater Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $18,707,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 150,459 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $460,299,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 15,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekside Partners purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,230,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $225.00 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $227.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.