Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Menlo Advisors LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Menlo Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 54,576 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.5% of Menlo Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Menlo Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.