Apple Inc. $AAPL is Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Adams Asset Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,468 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,781 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.5% of Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $245.50 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $224.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.74.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.