Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Decreased by Seros Financial LLC

Seros Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.7% of Seros Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Seros Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Apple by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,870,795,000 after acquiring an additional 14,651,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $279.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.47.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

AAPL stock opened at $259.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $243.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.56. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $265.29. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.