Courier Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Courier Capital LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 294,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,422 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.9% of Courier Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $226.47 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. 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 company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $222.25 and its 200-day moving average is $200.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for 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 revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.