AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 48,623 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,199,877 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 48,623 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Apple worth $2,047,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% in the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,106,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value 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 $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.28 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $268.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Argus set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.51.

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.