SCS Capital Management LLC Sells 57,127 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC reduced its stock holdings in Apple Inc. by 20.8% during Q1, now owning 217,546 shares valued at approximately $48.3 million.
• Apple's latest quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57 and revenue of $94.04 billion, significantly beating analysts' expectations.
• Analyst ratings vary, with two giving a Strong Buy, fifteen a Buy, and one a Sell, resulting in an average rating of Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $240.80.

SCS Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 20.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,546 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 57,127 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.6% of SCS Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. SCS Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $48,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.77.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $238.38. 36,160,619 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,675,254. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $222.03 and a 200-day moving average of $211.99. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm 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 company's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.