Balentine LLC Has $12.16 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Balentine LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 80.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,733 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 231,865 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.6% of Balentine LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after purchasing an additional 485,873 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Apple by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,993,042 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,085,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,247,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,951,297,000 after purchasing an additional 415,186 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’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 directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $231.41 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $226.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

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.