Ted Buchan & Co Acquires New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ted Buchan & Co bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 387.3% during the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $876,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $193,926,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.96. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

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.