J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC Buys 4,449 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 185,707 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,449 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.1% of J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.73.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $238.47 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $217.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.