Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,725,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 84,252 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Apple worth $3,312,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $227.04 and its 200-day moving average is $215.96. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

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.