Richmond Brothers Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Richmond Brothers Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,758 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,381 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 11.6% of Richmond Brothers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Richmond Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 47,694 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,179,000 after purchasing an additional 6,796 shares during the period. Deltec Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 18.3% during the first quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 25,004 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares in the last quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 31.3% in the first quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,835 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,887,000 after acquiring an additional 4,018 shares in the last quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126,294 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,657,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Maxim Group raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.