Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,542,663 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 778,210 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.6% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,062,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $876,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $193,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,057,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $226.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $226.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.03. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock valued at $93,021,362 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.