Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 147,666 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,840 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.7% of Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.6%

Apple stock opened at $254.43 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.11. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $226.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Melius Research set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.03.

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.