StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew 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 buying an additional 18,122 shares during the last quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,776 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,264,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,172 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the last quarter. Traction Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Traction Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynch & Associates IN boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 46,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,641,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.49.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $256.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.95, 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 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’s fifty day moving average price is $233.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Apple Company 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.