Dearborn Partners LLC Has $129.50 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 614,860 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,630 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.6% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $129,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.78 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given 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 Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.76.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.