Ferguson Shapiro LLC Sells 646 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ferguson Shapiro LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,746 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 646 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Ferguson Shapiro LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Ferguson Shapiro LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Compass Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $210,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $232.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $225.41 and a 200-day moving average of $207.39. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.