Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,126 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.0% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $45,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in Apple by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 61,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,868,000 after buying an additional 8,264 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 66,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,712,000 after buying an additional 8,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 145,346 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $226.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Apple Company 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.