Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.2% of Hanseatic Management Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Hanseatic Management Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
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.
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