Bard Financial Services Inc. Has $118.20 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 561,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,190 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 12.2% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $118,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $4,782,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related 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 directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock worth $38,092,387. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.51.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $228.03 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $220.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.