Harfst & Associates Inc. Has $7.96 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Harfst & Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,813 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 881 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.9% of Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Sequent Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Financial Life Advisors purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $231.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. 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 $237.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $225.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.