Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Purchases New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,996,000. Apple accounts for about 0.7% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Apple by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 306,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,636,000 after acquiring an additional 73,629 shares during the last quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 10,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC grew its position in Apple by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 9,392 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC grew its position in Apple by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC now owns 15,235 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 92.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,741 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,579,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.45 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.44.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.