Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Raised by Meridian Management Co.

Meridian Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,657 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of Meridian Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second 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 period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $227.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.93, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue 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. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Cfra lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.23.

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.