Cromwell Holdings LLC Has $9.44 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 6.1% of Cromwell Holdings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cromwell Holdings LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.5% in the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 203,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,847,000 after buying an additional 17,617 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $2,701,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 5,126.6% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 67,684 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,671,000 after purchasing an additional 66,389 shares during the period. Finally, BancFirst Trust & Investment Management grew its position in Apple by 22.4% during the second quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 2,048 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $258.20 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $235.45 and its 200 day moving average is $226.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $258.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.