Sierra Capital LLC Buys 46,951 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sierra Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 70.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 113,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 46,951 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.2% of Sierra Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $248.05 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $254.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $234.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

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.