Howland Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 325,327 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 133,897 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.6% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $63,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 16,252.3% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 27.3% during the first quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC now owns 983 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 28th. Credit Suisse Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.82.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $186.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $198.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $176.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.78%. The business had revenue of $89.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.69%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total value of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total value of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,237,944.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 439,585 shares of company stock worth $76,485,550 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.