Banta Asset Management LP Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Banta Asset Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,549 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,912 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 10.5% of Banta Asset Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Banta Asset Management LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 27.3% during the first quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC now owns 983 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,483,548.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.11, for a total transaction of $11,279,400.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,483,548.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total value of $41,498,152.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at $565,809,142.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 444,391 shares of company stock valued at $77,370,046. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $189.71 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $198.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $176.68 and a 200 day moving average of $180.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $89.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.78% and a net margin of 25.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 13th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price target on Apple from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.25.

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.