Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Optimum Investment Advisors

Optimum Investment Advisors reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,394 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 8.6% of Optimum Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $19,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One 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, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.30.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm 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. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.