GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 39,743 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.5% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $80,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Trust Co of the South raised its stake in Apple by 4.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 90,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,917,000 after purchasing an additional 4,094 shares in the last quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC now owns 11,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,031,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. now owns 38,924 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,911,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,888,000. Finally, Beacon Wealthcare LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Wealthcare LLC now owns 6,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $271.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. CLSA increased their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush set a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.92.

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.