Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Park Place Capital Corp

Key Points

• Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 11.0% during the second quarter, now holding 25,440 shares worth approximately $5.3 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Kingstone Capital Partners and GAMMA Investing, significantly boosted their positions in Apple, suggesting strong investor interest in the tech giant.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Apple, with a consensus price target of $248.29 and several recent upgrades, indicating a generally positive outlook despite varying opinions.

Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 11.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,440 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.2% of Park Place Capital Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Park Place Capital Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $5,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Apple by 27.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,870,795,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651,321 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average price is $241.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.86. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last three months. 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.

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