Sutton Place Investors LLC Has $3.75 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sutton Place Investors LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 55.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,986 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.7% of Sutton Place Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Sutton Place Investors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $487,435,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.78. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.