Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Sander Capital Advisors Inc.

Sander Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,858 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,225 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 13.3% of Sander Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Sander Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. increased its stake in Apple by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $271.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $259.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.92. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

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.