Dakota Wealth Management Sells 85,959 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Dakota Wealth Management sold 85,959 shares of Apple Inc. during the second quarter, decreasing its holdings by 12.9%, with Apple now comprising 2.5% of its portfolio and valued at $119.4 million.
• Several analysts have updated their ratings on Apple, with Citigroup maintaining a "buy" rating and other firms setting price targets between $250.00 and $305.00.
• Apple's CEO Timothy D. Cook recently sold 129,963 shares, reducing his ownership by 3.81%, while institutional investors hold approximately 67.73% of the company's stock.

Dakota Wealth Management lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 582,071 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 85,959 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.5% of Dakota Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Dakota Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $119,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. CLSA raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $254.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $236.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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