Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 13,527 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,882 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,527 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $275.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.87, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.