Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Increased by 17 Capital Partners LLC

17 Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 810 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of 17 Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. 17 Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 52,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,057,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 47,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,940,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Family Investment Center Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Family Investment Center Inc. now owns 9,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $12,630,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.26 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $240.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Insider Activity

In other Apple 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.