Apple Inc. $AAPL is ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 473,126 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,937 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.2% of ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $97,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. CLSA raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $245.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $237.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.