Freemont Management S.A. Purchases 17,200 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Freemont Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,200 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.3% of Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $280.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $265.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $233.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.