Clear Investment Research LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Clear Investment Research LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,583 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.8% of Clear Investment Research LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Clear Investment Research LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $283.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $283.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $263.81 and a 200 day moving average of $232.37. The company has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.96, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’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 value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a report on Friday, October 31st. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

About Apple

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.