Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,442 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,104 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.4% of Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 2.3% during the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $150,975,907,000 after purchasing an additional 20,424,207 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 116,483.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 285,171,112 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $46,918,015,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Apple by 3.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,589,468,000 after purchasing an additional 7,736,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $177.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $176.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $89.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,237,944.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.11, for a total value of $11,279,400.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,483,548.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total value of $5,661,792.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,237,944.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 455,004 shares of company stock worth $79,238,767. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $222.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler Companies raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.08.

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.