Guidance Capital Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Guidance Capital Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,694 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 879 shares during the quarter. Guidance Capital Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.75. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. 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.