Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Private Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Private Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 29.6%, selling 6,633 shares and retaining 15,763 shares valued at approximately $3.5 million.
• Several institutional investors recently acquired new stakes in Apple, increasing institutional ownership to 67.73% of the company's stock.
• Goldman Sachs and other analysts maintain a "buy" rating for Apple, with target prices ranging from $217.00 to $266.00, indicating a consensus of strong confidence in the stock's potential growth.

Private Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,763 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,633 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $239.69. The company had a trading volume of 54,829,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.86. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.