Newport Capital Group LLC Makes New $1.34 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Newport Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,000. Apple comprises about 1.1% of Newport Capital Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.60. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 152.94%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.