Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Has $8.04 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 39,170 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 107,420 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. SigFig Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $278.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $268.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.51.

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.