Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Decreased by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 223,581 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,862 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.7% of Certuity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $47,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $230.57 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $226.64 and a 200 day moving average of $209.48. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.27.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.