Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 161,412 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 468,764 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,412 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.4% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $96,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Baker Boyer National Bank increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the second quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $278.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.28, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $280.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $263.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $231.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (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 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 firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Company 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.