74,250 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by Monolith Management Ltd

Monolith Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 74,250 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $17,300,000. Apple accounts for approximately 10.1% of Monolith Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 81,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,167,000 after purchasing an additional 12,755 shares during the last quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 4,065 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 80,526 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,960,000 after purchasing an additional 8,468 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Apple by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,726,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $363,541,000 after acquiring an additional 71,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $241.68 and a 200 day moving average of $230.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.