Prudent Investors Network Inc. Sells 886 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Prudent Investors Network Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 886 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.7% of Prudent Investors Network Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Prudent Investors Network Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $238.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $217.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.