Black Diamond Financial LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Black Diamond Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,103 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.9% of Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Melius upped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

AAPL stock opened at $271.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $277.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $259.49 and its 200 day moving average is $229.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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