Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Peterson Wealth Management

Key Points

• Peterson Wealth Management reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 60.0%, bringing its holdings to 10,366 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million, making Apple the firm's 23rd largest position.
• Institutional investors hold 67.73% of Apple's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Vanguard Group and Northern Trust Corp in recent quarters.
• Apple reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% increase from the previous year.

Peterson Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 60.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,366 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 15,558 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.6% of Peterson Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Peterson Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.77.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $238.15. The stock had a trading volume of 63,364,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,474,312. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.17. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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