IFC Advisors LLC Sells 2,229 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

IFC Advisors LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,819 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,229 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.3% of IFC Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. IFC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $275.25 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.75. 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 cap of $4.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Apple from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

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.