Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Cut by Oarsman Capital Inc.

Oarsman Capital Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,922 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 713 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.6% of Oarsman Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Apple Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple 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.