Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,136 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 394 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.7% of Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% in 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 buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,061,296,000 after buying an additional 485,873 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $228.44 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.47. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.