Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Sard Wealth Management Group LLC

Sard Wealth Management Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,250 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 998 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.4% of Sard Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Sard Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 grew its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $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 grew its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $245.50 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.10.

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, topping 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.74.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.