Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Next Century Growth Investors LLC

Next Century Growth Investors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,918 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,223 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $240.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $221.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.48. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 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 period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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.

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