Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s 8th Largest Position

Morton Capital Management LLC CA raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,719 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.0% of Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.93 on Thursday. 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 $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $228.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.12.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

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.