Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 1,402,300 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 99.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,402,300 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.5% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during 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 period. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Three 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.63 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $280.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $263.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $4.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.