Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,977 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,144 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.2% of Vicus Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,531,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Maxim Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.