Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 331,673 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,423,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 331,673 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.0% of Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $292,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Phillip Securities cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.53.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $280.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, 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 value of $1,038,790.61. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.