Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,629 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.2% of Veracity Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $248.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $250.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.