Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 780,891 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,856 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.6% of Securian Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $160,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its stake in Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. CLSA raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $268.56 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.15. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The company has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.