Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lessened by Cresta Advisors Ltd.

Key Points

• Cresta Advisors Ltd. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 8.0% during the second quarter, owning 37,182 shares, which represents 3.7% of its investment portfolio.
• Analysts maintain a cautionary outlook on Apple, with Barclays setting a target price of $180.00 and Jefferies downgrading its rating to "underperform," while Raymond James suggests a target price of $240.00.
• CEO Timothy D. Cook and SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold tens of thousands of shares in early October, indicating a decrease in insider ownership amidst overall sales totaling approximately $64.3 million.

Cresta Advisors Ltd. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,182 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,249 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.7% of Cresta Advisors Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cresta Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $7,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $205.82 to $205.16 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Apple Stock Down 3.5%

AAPL stock opened at $245.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $237.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%.Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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