Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sigma Planning Corp’s Largest Position

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 892,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 18,899 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.9% of Sigma Planning Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $147,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after buying an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after buying an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 282,749,817 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,671,884,000 after buying an additional 2,991,299 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 226,281,368 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,400,739,000 after buying an additional 1,417,827 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after buying an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $189.46 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.22. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 4th. DA Davidson cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $193.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total transaction of $2,753,216.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.