Unconventional Investor LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Unconventional Investor LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,373 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.6% of Unconventional Investor LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Unconventional Investor LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 480,563 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $111,639,000 after purchasing an additional 50,315 shares during the last quarter. GG Group Ventures LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. GG Group Ventures LLC now owns 5,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Menlo Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Menlo Advisors LLC now owns 54,576 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,716,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 20,903 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashford Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,276 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $241.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $240.70 and its 200 day moving average is $231.34. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

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.