PAX Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

PAX Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,844 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,458 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its position in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

AAPL stock opened at $278.78 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.32, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.09.

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.