Apple Inc. $AAPL is Valley National Advisers Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Valley National Advisers Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 566 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.7% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,666,000 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. Salus Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 20,946 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,298,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $269.00 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $269.89. 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 capitalization of $3.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $245.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.76.

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.