Mcrae Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mcrae Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Terril Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 152,028 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,270,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $26,738,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 28,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,484,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 95.5% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 2,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 178,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,560 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

AAPL opened at $227.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $222.05 and its 200-day moving average is $201.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.76.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.