Parthenon LLC Has $27.10 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Parthenon LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 132,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.1% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Argus set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Apple stock opened at $267.44 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $277.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% 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, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.