Cascade Investment Group Inc. Sells 766 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Cascade Investment Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 766 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.1% of Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Phillip Securities reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Apple Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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%.

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.