Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s Largest Position

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,801 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,488 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 8.0% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,057,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,776,000. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the first quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 5,488 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 617,582 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $105,903,000 after acquiring an additional 6,567 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’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 value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.38. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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