Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Decreased by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 89,563 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.5% of World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after buying an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.8 %

AAPL opened at $216.32 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $199.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

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.