Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Auxano Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Auxano Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.2%, selling 3,318 shares during the first quarter, for a total of 144,189 shares remaining, valued at approximately $32 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Advanced Portfolio Management and Salus Financial Advisors, have recently altered their positions in Apple, highlighting ongoing investment interest from various firms.
• Apple's recent earnings beat expectations with an EPS of $1.57, and it reported $94.04 billion in revenue for the quarter, reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year increase.

Auxano Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,189 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,318 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.5% of Auxano Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Auxano Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $32,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $158,067,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial restated 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 lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.37.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.42 on Friday, reaching $232.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,382,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The stock's 50-day moving average is $215.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.91. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.