Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Cowen AND Company LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Cowen AND Company LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 484.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,344,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,114,519 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 7.9% of Cowen AND Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cowen AND Company LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $283,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.5% in the first quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the first quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 151,994 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,064,000 after purchasing an additional 12,071 shares in the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,997 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,745,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $222,000. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 12,645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,168,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.91.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $231.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.34. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

About Apple

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.