Darden Wealth Group Inc Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Darden Wealth Group Inc has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.7%, selling 1,104 shares to hold a total of 39,706 shares valued at approximately $8.82 million.
• Apple reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, which represents a yield of 0.4% on an annualized basis.

Darden Wealth Group Inc decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,706 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,104 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 6.8% of Darden Wealth Group Inc's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Darden Wealth Group Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $8,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

AAPL stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $232.14. 39,382,353 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $215.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.71. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share 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 $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio 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.