Athena Investment Management Sells 551 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Athena Investment Management lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,136 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.2% of Athena Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Piper Sandler Companies reissued 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. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $233.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.05. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.