Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 252,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,396 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.0% of Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $51,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $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 increased its position in shares of 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.66.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $252.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $227.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.78. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.11. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.