Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, owning 173,746 shares valued at approximately $35.65 million.
• Insider Deirdre O'Brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock for about $7.77 million, decreasing her ownership by 20.3%.
• Analysts show optimism for Apple's stock, with price targets ranging from $205.82 to $266.00 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy".

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 173,746 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 13,429 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $35,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $7.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $245.50. 163,435,991 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company's 50-day moving average is $224.35 and its 200 day moving average is $212.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend 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.