Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Shikiar Asset Management Inc.

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,507 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 17.7% of Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $67,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.33 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.81. The company has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $229.02 and a 200-day moving average of $220.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.