Hilltop Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hilltop Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,877 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.4% of Hilltop Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Hilltop Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Golden Road Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,575,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after buying an additional 19,352 shares during the last quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $80,057,000. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at $11,776,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $233.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $224.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.04. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

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.