Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 797,842 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 33,416 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $163,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baker Boyer National Bank raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. SigFig Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Shariaportfolio Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Sharpepoint LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.5% in the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.28 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.51.

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.