Straight Path Wealth Management Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Straight Path Wealth Management lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.5% of Straight Path Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Straight Path Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were 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 was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.