Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Cut by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,610 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.9% of Natural Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Natural Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salus Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. SigFig Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Shariaportfolio Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sharpepoint LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. CLSA raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, HSBC set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AAPL opened at $268.47 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.54.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend 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.