Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Barton Investment Management

Barton Investment Management decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.9% of Barton Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Barton Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,587 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $216.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. 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 simple moving average is $222.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.00. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.