Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Diversified Enterprises LLC

Key Points

• Diversified Enterprises LLC reduced its stake in Apple by 2.4%, selling nearly 2,000 shares during the second quarter, which left it holding about $16.77 million worth of stock.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and Kingstone Capital, have increased their Apple holdings significantly, indicating strong institutional interest with approximately 67.73% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Apple's most recent earnings report showed a 9.6% year-over-year revenue increase, reporting $94.04 billion in revenue and beating analysts' expectations.

Diversified Enterprises LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,753 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,997 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of Diversified Enterprises LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Diversified Enterprises LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $16,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,790,933,000 after purchasing an additional 984,157 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $245.27 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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