Diligent Investors LLC Has $16.72 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Diligent Investors LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,504 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.0% of Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.47.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $262.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $244.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.51. 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 current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09.

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, 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

About Apple

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.