Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Optas LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Optas LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,407 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,601 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.1% of Optas LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Optas LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its position in Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $243.36 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $238.91 and a 200-day moving average of $229.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.