Argent Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 36.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 410,637 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 238,524 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.4% of Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $84,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seek First Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 121,726 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,975,000 after purchasing an additional 4,383 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.2% in the second quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 29,399 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.1% in the second quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 164,087 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $33,666,000 after purchasing an additional 17,758 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 59,407 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argentarii LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the second quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 60,429 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,398,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Price Performance
NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $258.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $233.09 and a 200 day moving average of $214.69. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company 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%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 directly owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.49.
View Our Latest Analysis on Apple
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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