Sagace Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sagace Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,938 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,527 shares during the quarter. Sagace Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of AAPL opened at $273.33 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $277.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $254.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.08. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

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.