Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV Trims Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,532 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 465 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.8% of Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.27 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.