Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Cut by Seven Eight Capital LP

Seven Eight Capital LP trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,032 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,568 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P now owns 63,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. First Washington CORP lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the second quarter. First Washington CORP now owns 6,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the second quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 36,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,768,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Kooman & Associates raised its position in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 8,436 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in Apple by 20.0% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 74,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,635,000 after acquiring an additional 12,394 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $222.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $226.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.51. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.