Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by M.D. Sass LLC

M.D. Sass LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 36.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.3% of M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,777,000. Shum Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,996,000. Rock Point Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 57,228 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 1,016,234 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $236,782,000 after purchasing an additional 171,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 98.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 215,308 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,167,000 after purchasing an additional 107,022 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $232.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

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.