Apple Inc. $AAPL is World Equity Group Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

World Equity Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 26,886 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.6% of World Equity Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $258.02 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.69. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.49.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.