MQS Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $277.55 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $280.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.80.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

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.