Citrine Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Citrine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.4% of Citrine Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Citrine Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $241.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.29.

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.