Eldred Rock Partners LLC Invests $268,000 in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Eldred Rock Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,152 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $227.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.