Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Wealth Effects LLC

Wealth Effects LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,766 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,252 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.4% of Wealth Effects LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Wealth Effects LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 118,933 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,053,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,621,000 after acquiring an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,444,197 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,322,156,000 after acquiring an additional 18,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chronos Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,776 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,264,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $256.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $233.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.96. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.49.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.