Old West Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Old West Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.2% of Old West Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $222.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.03. 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, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 145.09% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Apple 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.