Ransom Advisory Ltd Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired 93,164 shares of Apple Inc. in Q1, valued at approximately $20.7 million, making Apple its largest investment holding at 10.2% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $1.43, and generated revenues of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing a yield of 0.4% with a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 93,164 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $20,695,000. Apple makes up approximately 10.2% of Ransom Advisory Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 4.5% during the first quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,132,000 after acquiring an additional 5,839 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.1% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 188,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $41,772,000 after acquiring an additional 3,915 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its position in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 129,951 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,866,000 after acquiring an additional 10,968 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.8% during the first quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,893,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oriental Harbor Investment Fund boosted its position in Apple by 37.5% during the first quarter. Oriental Harbor Investment Fund now owns 516,801 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $114,797,000 after acquiring an additional 141,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $234.07. 55,768,555 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 45,223,864. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $221.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.