Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Aspen Investment Management Inc

Aspen Investment Management Inc decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,282 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.6% of Aspen Investment Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in 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 boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 worth $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 raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $221.50 and its 200 day moving average is $212.20. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.