Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 72.4%, making the stock approximately 22.9% of its total portfolio with a value of $1,751,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Apple, with GAMMA raising its holdings by over 25,934.1% in the first quarter.
• Apple's quarterly earnings report revealed a beat on earnings per share with $1.57 against an estimate of $1.43, and a revenue of $94.04 billion compared to expectations of $88.64 billion.

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 72.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,884 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 20,646 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 22.9% of Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.77.

Apple Stock Up 0.7%

AAPL traded up $1.68 on Tuesday, reaching $238.38. 36,160,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,675,254. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $222.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.99. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Apple 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.