Apple Inc. $AAPL is Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,874 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.4% of Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. CLSA raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Argus set a $325.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $268.47 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $252.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.54. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $277.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

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.