Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Clarity Asset Management Inc.

Clarity Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 44.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 442 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Apple Stock Up 1.4%

AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $221.08 and its 200-day moving average is $212.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.