Modus Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Modus Advisors LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.9% of Modus Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Modus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company 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 report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Apple stock opened at $237.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $223.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.35. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.