Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Watershed Private Wealth LLC

Watershed Private Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,604 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,569 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.9% of Watershed Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Watershed Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. DMC Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 52,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,743,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Penney Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 7,958 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 42,710 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,970,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 80,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,500,000 after purchasing an additional 17,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 703,509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $144,339,000 after purchasing an additional 146,160 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $270.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $248.34 and its 200-day moving average is $222.01. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued 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 is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Melius lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a report on Friday. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.