Raelipskie Partnership Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Raelipskie Partnership lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,924 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.8% of Raelipskie Partnership’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Raelipskie Partnership’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its stake in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. 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 $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

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.