Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Bensler LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Bensler LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,780 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.7% of Bensler LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,531,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $225.67 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.50. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.76.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 458,619 shares of company stock valued at $101,352,630. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.