SPC Financial Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

SPC Financial Inc. lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 71,013 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.2% of SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. DZ Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $268.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 dividend 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.