Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 23,483 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 48.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,599 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 23,483 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.9% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. DZ Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

AAPL opened at $269.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $251.53 and its 200 day moving average is $224.02. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

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.