Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Boosted by Cape Investment Advisory Inc.

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,617 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,220 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.5% of Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. CLSA upped their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.51.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $278.28 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.28. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

About Apple

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.