Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by White Pine Investment CO

White Pine Investment CO trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,572 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 481 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.2% of White Pine Investment CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. White Pine Investment CO’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $241.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

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.