Kooman & Associates Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Kooman & Associates cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,532 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.6% of Kooman & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Kooman & Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $1,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $237.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

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.