BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 47.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,596 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Compass Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $233.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. 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 fifty day moving average of $224.59 and a 200-day moving average of $207.04. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49.

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. The business 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 was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

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.