DSC Advisors L.P. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DSC Advisors L.P. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.0% of DSC Advisors L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. DSC Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Apple were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $225.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $226.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.45.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.