S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Sells 1,217 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 68,392 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,217 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.2% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.62.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $223.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.