Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.5% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $60,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Cfra increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $227.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $226.91 and a 200 day moving average of $213.51. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. 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 net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.