Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Baron Wealth Management LLC

Baron Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 876 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.3% of Baron Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Baron Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Apple by 14.3% during 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $254.43 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $226.20 and a 200-day moving average of $212.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 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 for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.