CapWealth Advisors LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CapWealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 46,974 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.4% of CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.2 %

Apple stock opened at $235.00 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.38. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued 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 yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

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.