McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC Has $5.39 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 24,977 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,531,834,000 after buying an additional 1,067,587 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $221.45 and its 200-day moving average is $195.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.30.

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.