Monarch Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 64,997 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,969 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.0% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Apple by 158.3% during 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. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.79 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.