VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,558 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,058 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.5% of VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $229.04 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This 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 worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.