Kitching Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kitching Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000. Apple makes up about 0.4% of Kitching Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Encompass More Asset Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 347.2% in the 3rd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 18,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after acquiring an additional 14,113 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 81,959 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,094,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 7.5% during the third quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,132 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Apple by 18.2% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 9,583,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,232,893,000 after buying an additional 1,475,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,365,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $233.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $241.49 and its 200 day moving average is $230.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.