Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Reduced by Montis Financial LLC

Montis Financial LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,279 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,775 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.8% of Montis Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Montis Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prepared Retirement Institute LLC increased its stake in Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Prepared Retirement Institute LLC now owns 6,507 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in Apple by 13.9% during the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 101,564 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,838,000 after acquiring an additional 12,394 shares during the last quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC now owns 16,525 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,390,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its stake in Apple by 10.0% during the second quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 142,621 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,262,000 after acquiring an additional 13,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 20.4% during the second quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 105,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,584,000 after acquiring an additional 17,857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $247.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.66. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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%.Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 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.