Hilltop Partners LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Hilltop Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 35,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.2% of Hilltop Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Hilltop Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its position in Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $274.11 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.51.

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.