Stonekeep Investments LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stonekeep Investments LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Stonekeep Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Stonekeep Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $239.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.02. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $240.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.