IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 80,036 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.9% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.68.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $242.84 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $244.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $230.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.