Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Platform Technology Partners' Largest Position

Platform Technology Partners boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,028 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Apple comprises 9.6% of Platform Technology Partners' holdings, making the stock its largest position. Platform Technology Partners' holdings in Apple were worth $30,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the second quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,103 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $3,417,000. GFG Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 113,656 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $23,938,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 60,797 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,805,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.72 on Monday, hitting $229.98. 68,239,505 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,481,172. The company has a fifty day moving average of $241.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.79. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

About Apple

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.