Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,014 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 209.2% during the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

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

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

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.