Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Cut by Bristlecone Advisors LLC

Bristlecone Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 198,490 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,348 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.4% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

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 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 capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $263.27 and a 200 day moving average of $231.72.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.