Strid Group LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Strid Group LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 694 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.2% of Strid Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Strid Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. 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, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, CLSA raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.47.

Apple Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $262.82 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.65. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $265.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.