Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Bennett Selby Investments LP

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 2nd, 2023

Bennett Selby Investments LP lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,112 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,681 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 14.6% of Bennett Selby Investments LP’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Bennett Selby Investments LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MKT Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 6,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Aufman Associates Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Aufman Associates Inc now owns 7,674 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Cowen dropped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Apple from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.24.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $164.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.