Apple Inc. $AAPL is Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,347 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,209 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.5% of Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JDH Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. JDH Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,885 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 31,789 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,061,000 after purchasing an additional 6,362 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 124,621 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,682,000 after purchasing an additional 11,322 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 80,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,960,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in Apple by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,051,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $233,498,000 after acquiring an additional 119,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.37.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $232.14 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 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 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 analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.