Next Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Next Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.0% of Next Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Next Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $227.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.96. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. 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 market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.