Compass Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Compass Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,821 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,421 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.2% of Compass Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Compass Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $233.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

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.