Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lessened by Kingfisher Capital LLC

Kingfisher Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 81,471 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.0% of Kingfisher Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Kingfisher Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ELCO Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.8% during the second quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 33,331 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in Apple by 254.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 107,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,543,000 after acquiring an additional 76,870 shares in the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC now owns 29,036 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,116,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,449,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $23,335,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Cfra increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock valued at $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $224.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $226.72 and a 200-day moving average of $215.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.