CPA Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

CPA Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.6% of CPA Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. CPA Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted 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 worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.93.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $238.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.36. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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