Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by Keating Investment Counselors Inc.

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 59.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,821 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,550 shares during the quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,877,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 64,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,494,000 after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 67,460 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,209,000 after buying an additional 7,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 184,423 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,843,000 after buying an additional 3,628 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.27.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.76 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $226.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.