AMI Asset Management Corp Sells 27,985 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

AMI Asset Management Corp lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 487,448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 27,985 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.7% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $100,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the second 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 buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth 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 valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,790,933,000 after buying an additional 984,157 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’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 represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Apple stock opened at $262.77 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $265.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $242.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.74. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 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 released its 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $279.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.47.

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.