Optima Capital LLC Acquires 709 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Optima Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Optima Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $258.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $233.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.69. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

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.