Saratoga Research & Investment Management Sells 15,521 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 352,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,521 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 3.4% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $74,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $226.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.60. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.