SPC Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SPC Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,508 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.0% of SPC Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.96. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.