Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong

Key Points

• CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong sold 146,775 shares of Apple Inc., reducing its stake by 73.7% in the first quarter.
• SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock, decreasing her ownership by 20.30% and bringing her total holdings to 136,687 shares.
• Apple's stock recently traded at $239.78, following excellent quarterly earnings and a new dividend of $0.26 per share, indicating healthy profitability and shareholder returns.

CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 73.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,443 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 146,775 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.9% of CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong's holdings in Apple were worth $11,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,829,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm's 50 day moving average is $219.28 and its 200-day moving average is $212.86. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.