Lee Financial Co Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lee Financial Co decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 40.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,058 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 46,780 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.4% of Lee Financial Co’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its holdings in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.16.

Apple Stock Down 3.2%

Apple stock opened at $226.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.60. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.