Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.7% of Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Four research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $241.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.81. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior 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, analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 is presently 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.