Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Acquires 2,989 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.5% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its holdings in Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.63 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $280.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $263.27 and a 200 day moving average of $231.72. 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 market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.28, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s 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.