Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. has reduced its position in Apple Inc. by 0.2%, selling 1,143 shares, leaving them with a total of 533,254 shares, which constitutes 2.2% of their portfolio.
• In the last quarter, institutions like GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc. significantly increased their holdings in Apple, implying strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Apple reported $1.57 EPS in its most recent earnings, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $94.04 billion.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 533,254 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,143 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.2% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $118,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $4.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $234.07. The company had a trading volume of 55,768,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,223,864. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.50 and a 200 day moving average of $212.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.