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

Sharp Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,541 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 807 shares during the quarter. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first 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 shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $268.47 on Monday. 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 cap of $3.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $252.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

About Apple

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.