Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 91 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,865 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.1% of Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.69. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.92 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.00.

Apple 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.