Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 837 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.4% of Veracity Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.22. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.