Gill Capital Partners LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gill Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.0% of Gill Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Gill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $228.06 and its 200-day moving average is $218.64. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.