Spear Holdings RSC Ltd Acquires Shares of 193,900 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Spear Holdings RSC Ltd acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 193,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $33,250,000. Apple comprises 5.8% of Spear Holdings RSC Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagstone Financial Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Kwmg LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 10,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Greylin Investment Management Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Greylin Investment Management Inc now owns 16,711 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,866,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,036 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,436,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson began coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock worth $38,092,387. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $226.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $220.32 and its 200 day moving average is $194.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.