Golden State Equity Partners Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 113,433 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $23,891,000. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Golden State Equity Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Community Bank grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 87.9% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 22,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,321,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 7,850,106 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,511,381,000 after buying an additional 164,601 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,971,206 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,807,706,000 after buying an additional 172,900 shares during the last quarter. Vannoy Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, Ratio Wealth Group lifted its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Ratio Wealth Group now owns 11,662 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $225.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.59. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.