Duquesne Family Office LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Duquesne Family Office LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 78.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,400 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 90,300 shares during the period. Duquesne Family Office LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 412,746 shares of company stock valued at $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $224.23 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

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.