Ascent Capital Management LLC Has $5.85 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Ascent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.2% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ascent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $245.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $237.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.83. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.