Lantz Financial LLC Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lantz Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.7% of Lantz Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Lantz Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Apple by 573,627.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AAPL opened at $255.46 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.11. 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.66.

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.