Capital Counsel LLC NY Purchases 450 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Capital Counsel LLC NY raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 77,610 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.8% of Capital Counsel LLC NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Capital Counsel LLC NY’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hardy Reed LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.8% during the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 135,617 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,599,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 872,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $203,328,000 after acquiring an additional 235,333 shares in the last quarter. NCP Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 19,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 45,114 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,512,000 after acquiring an additional 7,662 shares during the period. Finally, M.D. Sass LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 17,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,171,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $232.80 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.