Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Birinyi Associates Inc.

Birinyi Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 332,915 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,244 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 20.0% of Birinyi Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $270.37 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $248.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.39.

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.