PrairieView Partners LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PrairieView Partners LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 391 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.7% of PrairieView Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. PrairieView Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20.0% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares in the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 58.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $189.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $198.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.82 and its 200 day moving average is $173.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. 58.com reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.