Royal Fund Management LLC Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Royal Fund Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,080 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.8% of Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Dash Acquisitions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 37,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,638 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 524,124 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195 shares in the last quarter. Mayport LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 21,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 180,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,023,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kessler Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 43,834.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 52,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,104,000 after acquiring an additional 52,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen increased their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $222.50 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $223.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.75. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid 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 was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.