Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is International Assets Investment Management LLC’s Largest Position

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 29.5% of International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned 0.62% of Apple worth $219,829,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

AAPL opened at $254.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $255.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.70. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

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.