Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Adams Asset Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Adams Asset Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 7.4% to 85,468 shares, making it the firm's 5th largest position with a value of $17.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors have increased or initiated positions in Apple, with ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC notably boosting its stake by 1,800% in the first quarter.
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, along with a revenue of $94.04 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 9.6%.

Adams Asset Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,468 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,781 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.5% of Adams Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Adams Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $17,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.03.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $256.29. The company had a trading volume of 13,480,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,306,352. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $225.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.22. 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 $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

About Apple

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.