Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Cincinnati Financial Corp

Cincinnati Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,797,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 12.2% of Cincinnati Financial Corp’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Cincinnati Financial Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $573,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its stake in Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Melius Research set a $345.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.53.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.2%

Apple stock opened at $280.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $265.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

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.