Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 726 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.9% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Apple by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after acquiring an additional 485,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.4% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $226.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

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.