Hamilton Capital Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Hamilton Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 24.4% during Q2, owning 57,745 shares valued at $11.8 million, making it the 9th largest position in their portfolio.
• Apple reported a quarterly EPS of $1.57, surpassing forecasts, with revenues of $94.04 billion, reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

Hamilton Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,745 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 18,681 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.7% of Hamilton Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $252.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 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 company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $241.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.86.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.29.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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