Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Sells 10,333 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 140,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,333 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.1% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% during the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after buying an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $216.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $222.67 and its 200 day moving average is $199.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid 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 is presently 15.55%.

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.