Keb Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Keb Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,529 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.7% of Keb Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Keb Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its position in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This 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 worth $65,358,981 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of AAPL opened at $262.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $265.29. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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