Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by Brick & Kyle Associates

Brick & Kyle Associates lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 63,474 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 764 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.5% of Brick & Kyle Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Brick & Kyle Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $13,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 23.3% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 70,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,865,000 after purchasing an additional 13,354 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 128,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,966,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,523,000 after acquiring an additional 9,605 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 148.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkos Global Advisors raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arkos Global Advisors now owns 15,196 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.84 and a 200-day moving average of $215.52. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is 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.