Gries Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gries Financial LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 53.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 30,789 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.2% of Gries Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $235.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $225.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.