Spreng Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Spreng Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 43,619 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 537 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.2% of Spreng Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Spreng Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MKT Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,076 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 16,091 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,653,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Adaptive Financial Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Adaptive Financial Consulting LLC now owns 2,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the first quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $189.46 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $198.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $186.82 and its 200 day moving average is $173.49. 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 cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.86.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.