LGT Capital Partners LTD. Has $137.20 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 588,840 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,370 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $137,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 567,566 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $132,243,000 after acquiring an additional 7,051 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the third quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,718 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,827,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 139,854 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 278,784 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,957,000 after purchasing an additional 35,171 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

Apple Stock Up 3.2 %

AAPL opened at $229.82 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $240.93 and a 200-day moving average of $230.68. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.