Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s 2nd Largest Position

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 35.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 133,330 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 7.1% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $119,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 81,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,167,000 after acquiring an additional 12,755 shares during the period. TSA Wealth Managment LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 25.9% during 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 period. Encompass More Asset Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 4,065 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 80,526 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,960,000 after acquiring an additional 8,468 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,726,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,541,000 after acquiring an additional 71,298 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

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

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

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.