Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,239 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.6% of Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. 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 has a 50 day moving average of $223.66 and a 200 day moving average of $212.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.93.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Apple

About Apple

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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