Empirical Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Empirical Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 35.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,517 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.1% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Summit Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 16,252.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC now owns 983 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 123,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.79, for a total value of $23,305,747.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 293,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,365,688.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 123,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.79, for a total value of $23,305,747.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 293,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,365,688.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.04, for a total value of $884,496.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,383,795.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 567,839 shares of company stock worth $100,675,794 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $191.45 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $198.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $89.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.78% and a net margin of 25.31%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Apple from $198.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.25.

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.