Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Decreased by Beech Hill Advisors Inc.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,117 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.7% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $266.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.42.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were 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 of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Phillip Securities cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

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.