Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Trimmed by Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS

Key Points

• Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 54.5%, holding 109,347 shares after selling 130,834 during the second quarter.
• Apple reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.57, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.43, with revenue of $94.04 billion, a 9.6% year-over-year increase.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share was announced, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 54.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,347 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 130,834 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.8% of Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS's holdings in Apple were worth $22,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% in 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. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.74.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

Apple stock traded up $7.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $245.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 163,435,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $224.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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%.Apple's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.