Sierra Capital LLC Acquires 46,951 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sierra Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 70.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,951 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.2% of Sierra Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,526,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,848 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $248.05 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $234.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.89. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $254.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

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.