ERn Financial LLC Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ERn Financial LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,766 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.5% of ERn Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 42.1% in the second quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 2,521 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Heritage Bank FSB acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $315,000. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,329 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 335.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC now owns 4,850 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $216.32 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.00. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

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.