Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Reduced by Lokken Investment Group LLC

Lokken Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,748 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.3% of Lokken Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Lokken Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $215.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.08. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

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.