Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lifted by Nilsine Partners LLC

Nilsine Partners LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 216,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,501 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $55,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its holdings 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 worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $272.19 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $269.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.81. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. CLSA lifted their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Melius Research set a $345.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.92.

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.