Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Columbus Macro LLC

Columbus Macro LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st 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 period. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius upped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.39.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $270.37 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $248.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.34. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Apple Company 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.