3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Acquires 3,861 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,861 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.7% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in 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 period. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $270.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $249.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.37. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during 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%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

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.