Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Sells 4,454 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,108 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,454 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.9% of Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after purchasing an additional 485,873 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $229.00 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $227.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.