Blue Oak Capital LLC Sells 4,864 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Blue Oak Capital LLC has cut its stake in Apple Inc. by 50%, owning 4,864 shares worth approximately $1.08 million after the sale.
• Other large investors have varied their stakes, with Avid Wealth Partners LLC increasing its holdings by 28.3%, while several firms maintain a relatively consistent investment strategy.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations, reporting $1.57 EPS and a revenue of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.

Blue Oak Capital LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,864 shares during the period. Blue Oak Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.6%

AAPL traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $238.15. 63,364,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 45,474,312. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.59 and a 200 day moving average of $212.17. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company'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 transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.77.

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.