Apple Inc. $AAPL is Bellecapital International Ltd.’s 5th Largest Position

Bellecapital International Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,126 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.3% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $272.41 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $277.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.84. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 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.