Flaharty Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Flaharty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,367 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 901 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.5% of Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,713,000. Golden Road Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,575,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 387.3% during the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after buying an additional 19,352 shares during the period. WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $80,057,000. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $11,776,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $233.85 on Wednesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $224.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s 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 $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Corporate 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.