Herald Investment Management Ltd Sells 3,500 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Herald Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.2% of Herald Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Herald Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC now owns 983 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total value of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 455,004 shares of company stock valued at $79,238,767. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $168.22 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $177.20 and a 200 day moving average of $179.14. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $198.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The company had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.40.

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.