CX Institutional Sells 5,336 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CX Institutional decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,336 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of CX Institutional’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. CX Institutional’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in shares of Apple by 15.2% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 149,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,768,000 after buying an additional 19,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $243.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.90. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $244.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 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.