Strategic Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Strategic Advisors LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 182,792 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 25,309 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 7.9% of Strategic Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $42,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Investments & Financial Planning LLC grew its stake in Apple by 13.4% in the first quarter. Investments & Financial Planning LLC now owns 2,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,889,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 470,790 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $80,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 26,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,618,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $234.93 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $228.83 and its 200 day moving average is $219.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.