Apple Inc. $AAPL is Formidable Asset Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Formidable Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,331 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 7.4% of Formidable Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Formidable Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $46,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.27 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 presently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

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.