Auxier Asset Management Sells 46 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Auxier Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $193,926,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $80,057,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.03. The company has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.