Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Core Alternative Capital

Core Alternative Capital lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 145,652 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,272 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.1% of Core Alternative Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,677,000 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. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $226.96 and its 200-day moving average is $215.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.