Lumbard & Kellner LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lumbard & Kellner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,235 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.5% of Lumbard & Kellner LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Lumbard & Kellner LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $222.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.51, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.03. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 145.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.