Praxis Investment Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Praxis Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 348,128 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,650 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.6% of Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its position in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.41 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $277.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.84.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

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.