Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by TCP Asset Management LLC

TCP Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,926 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 909 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.4% of TCP Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. TCP Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $147,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $231.59 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $209.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.