Carnegie Investment Counsel Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Carnegie Investment Counsel lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 654,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 22,817 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.3% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Apple were worth $137,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Elite Life Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $963,000. Kelman Lazarov Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. now owns 15,862 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 35,103 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 41,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 143.3% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 831,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $160,088,000 after buying an additional 489,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $222.41 and its 200-day moving average is $199.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.