Empirical Asset Management LLC Sells 3,517 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Empirical Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 35.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,517 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.1% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its position in Apple by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $150,975,907,000 after acquiring an additional 20,424,207 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 116,483.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 285,171,112 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,918,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2,421,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.4% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 7,736,013 shares during the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,809,142.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 32,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.89, for a total value of $5,694,258.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,788,259.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders have sold 567,839 shares of company stock valued at $100,675,794 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Apple in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Apple from $198.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.25.

Apple Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $191.45 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $198.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $177.15 and its 200 day moving average is $181.03.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.69%.

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.