Bush Investment Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bush Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,846 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.1% of Bush Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Bush Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Absher Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 113,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,328 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.0% during the second quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,598,000 after purchasing an additional 6,750 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 8.0% during the second quarter. Pacific Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,309 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 17,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,709,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $244.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.70 and a 200 day moving average of $231.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % 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, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.