Clayton Financial Group LLC Sells 34,322 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Clayton Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 95.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 34,322 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.4% of Clayton Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Clayton Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the second quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 125,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,822,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 40,024 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,212,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,604 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $108,719,000. Finally, Palacios Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 127.5% in the 2nd quarter. Palacios Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,646 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,877,000 after buying an additional 16,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.51.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.45 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.08. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

About Apple

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.