Sicart Associates LLC Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sicart Associates LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,621 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of Sicart Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Sicart Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. CLSA upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.29.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

AAPL stock opened at $252.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Company 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.