Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Brand Asset Management Group Inc.

Brand Asset Management Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.8% of Brand Asset Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Brand Asset Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. MFG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. MFG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares during the period. Bowman & Co S.C. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 29,825 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,119,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Apple by 112.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 2,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $501,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $256.08 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $225.30 and a 200-day moving average of $212.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 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 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 analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Two equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.03.

Apple Company 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.