Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Sells 5,215 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,027 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,215 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.5% of Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in 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 last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was 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 represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple 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 owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Melius Research set a $345.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $267.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $277.32. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $257.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Apple Company 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.