Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,301 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.2% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Financial Advisory grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $225.77 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

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.