Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Trimmed by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 28th, 2023

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 298,955 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 46,508 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 7.1% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $57,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MKT Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,213 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,076 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,926 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 16,091 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $198.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Piper Jaffray Companies upped their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.41.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $170.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.83. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The company had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

About Apple

(Free Report)

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.