Earnest Partners LLC Sells 50 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,934 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. 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 report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Apple Stock Performance

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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 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.