Apple Inc. $AAPL is Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Howard Capital Management Group LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 427,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 402 shares during the period. Apple makes up 6.1% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $87,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 573,627.2% in 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 buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,790,933,000 after acquiring an additional 984,157 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $237.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.88. 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 results 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 analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.