Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC

Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 107.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,982 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.7% of Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $834,368,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $248.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.64. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $250.80.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is 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.