Barden Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,299 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Barden Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Barden Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Barden Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st 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 period. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $272.41 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $255.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.84.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid 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, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 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.