Olympiad Research LP Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Olympiad Research LP increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,551 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares during the quarter. Olympiad Research LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,521 shares during the period. Mcdonald Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 77,458 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the period. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 29,262 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. Finally, Divergent Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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 approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

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.