Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Decreased by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 806,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 708 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.3% of Stephens Inc. AR’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Apple were worth $165,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st 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. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $267.44 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $257.18 and a 200-day moving average of $227.87.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.