Park Place Capital Corp Has $6.64 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,476 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.9% of Park Place Capital Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $229.87 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.