Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,766 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 692 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.2% of Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing 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 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 984,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 (DPR) is 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target 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, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.29.

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.