Apple Inc. $AAPL is IFC Advisors LLC’s 8th Largest Position

IFC Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,819 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,229 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.3% of IFC Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. IFC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $275.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $277.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $253.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. CLSA upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

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.