Dash Acquisitions Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 637 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.1% of Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. raised its position in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $238.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Company 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.