Ascension Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ascension Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.3% of Ascension Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Ascension Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,116 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,792,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 218,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $37,515,000 after purchasing an additional 23,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 363,789 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,383,000 after purchasing an additional 34,514 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.0% in the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 23,718 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accel Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 26,559 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $228.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $226.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.52. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

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.