Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Symmetry Partners LLC

Symmetry Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,956 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,792 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $205.82 to $205.16 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $239.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.26. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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%. The firm’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 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given 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 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 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 directly 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 filing 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 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.