Meixler Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Meixler Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Meixler Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,619 shares of company stock worth $101,352,630 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.67 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.72 and a 200 day moving average of $203.50. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple 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.