Davis Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Davis Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.3% of Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position in Apple by 2.3% in the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $150,975,907,000 after acquiring an additional 20,424,207 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 16,638.6% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $94,566,000 after acquiring an additional 15,500,812 shares during the period. 58.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $191.45 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $177.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.03. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $198.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.78%. The firm had revenue of $89.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.25.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 123,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.79, for a total value of $23,305,747.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 293,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,365,688.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 123,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.79, for a total value of $23,305,747.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 293,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,365,688.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.11, for a total transaction of $11,279,400.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,483,548.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 567,839 shares of company stock valued at $100,675,794. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.