Sharp Financial Services LLC Purchases 807 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sharp Financial Services LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,541 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.7% of Sharp Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Sharp Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 27th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $268.47 on Monday. 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 cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $252.25 and a 200-day moving average of $224.85. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.