Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lessened by Creekside Partners

Creekside Partners decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 847 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.6% of Creekside Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Creekside Partners’ holdings in Apple were worth $7,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.95 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $255.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.41. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $277.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.