Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Beck Bode LLC

Beck Bode LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,006 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $221.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’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 value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.80.

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.