Financial Insights Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Financial Insights Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,806 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 16,315 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.7% of Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of AAPL opened at $262.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $265.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $244.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.47.

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.