Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 277,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,352 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.6% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.7%

Apple stock opened at $257.13 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.38. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.51.

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.