Augustine Asset Management Inc. Has $28.41 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Augustine Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 7.6% of Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Four equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Apple Trading Down 3.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $245.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $237.61 and a 200-day moving average of $215.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09.

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 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 that occurred 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. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 $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 valued at $64,320,190 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.