Exeter Financial LLC Has $8.38 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Exeter Financial LLC has reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 2.6%, now owning 40,854 shares valued at approximately $8.38 million, making Apple its 5th largest investment.
• Recent insider transactions included SVP Katherine L. Adams selling 47,125 shares for over $12 million, while CEO Timothy D. Cook sold nearly 130,000 shares for approximately $33.38 million.
• Analysts have set varying target prices for Apple shares, with estimates ranging from $240 to $310, indicating a generally positive outlook on the company's stock performance.

Exeter Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,854 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.7% of Exeter Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Exeter Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $8,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.29.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $258.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day moving average is $235.82 and its 200 day moving average is $215.55. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

About Apple

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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