Perigon Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Perigon Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.9%, holding 1,096,447 shares valued at approximately $224.96 million, making Apple its second-largest holding.
• Key executives, including CEO Timothy D. Cook and SVP Katherine L. Adams, sold substantial amounts of stock on October 2, with Cook offloading 129,963 shares valued at over $33 million.
• Apple reported a strong quarterly performance, beating EPS estimates at $1.57 with revenues of $94.04 billion, a 9.6% year-over-year increase, and an anticipated EPS of 7.28 for the current year.

Perigon Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,096,447 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 32,573 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.3% of Perigon Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Perigon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $224,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,790,933,000 after buying an additional 984,157 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $258.06 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $235.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Apple 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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