New York Life Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,159,859 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 27,088 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.6% of New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $454,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.86. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Maxim Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

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.