Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,926 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,599 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.7% of First Foundation Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $71,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st 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. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Apple stock opened at $231.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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