Quest Partners LLC Purchases 1,919 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 95,950.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,921 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,919 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 69.6% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 58,635 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,350,000 after acquiring an additional 24,068 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 7.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 73,502 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 47.4% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 350,341 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $73,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.6% during the second quarter. Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.78 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. 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 50 day moving average of $240.93 and a 200 day moving average of $230.70.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company 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.