Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 53.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,266 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 19,644 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.0% of Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its position in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Two 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.51.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value 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 $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $254.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.80. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.64 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 results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend payout ratio is 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.