Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 0.8%, holding approximately 10.25 million shares after selling 87,136 shares in the first quarter.
• Apple's stock recently saw significant analyst activity, with two Strong Buy ratings, fifteen Buy ratings, and a consensus target price of $240.80.
• SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple at an average price of $223.20, indicating a 20.3% decrease in her ownership of the stock.

AQR Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,248,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 87,136 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.3% of AQR Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Apple worth $2,225,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $234.07. The stock had a trading volume of 55,768,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,223,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $221.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $240.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.