Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 1,853 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,570 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,853 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.0% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $225.91 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $227.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Cfra lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

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.