Apple Inc. $AAPL is Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s Largest Position

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 72.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 20,646 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 22.9% of Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Apple Stock Up 1.8%

AAPL stock opened at $234.07 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve 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 stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $221.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Activity 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 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 approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.