Sage Advisors LLC Acquires 1,416 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sage Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 7.6% of Sage Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sage Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.00. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

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.