Sheets Smith Wealth Management Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sheets Smith Wealth Management reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,031 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.2% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Apple by 27.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,870,795,000 after acquiring an additional 14,651,321 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $258.02 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.69. 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 issued 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.49.

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.