Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV Makes New $6.36 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 23,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,362,000. Apple accounts for approximately 4.0% of Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Orion Investment Co grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.85 and a 12 month high of $317.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $289.73 and its 200-day moving average is $272.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.