Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Decreased by Synergy Asset Management LLC

Synergy Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,458 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Synergy Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $32,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in 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 valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.47.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $259.58 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $243.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.56. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $265.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.