Clearline Capital LP Has $31.46 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 726.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,345 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,279 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.9% of Clearline Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Clearline Capital LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 387.3% in the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after buying an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $876,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $193,926,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $80,057,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $228.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $226.84 and a 200-day moving average of $215.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.