Fruth Investment Management Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fruth Investment Management lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,262 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.1% of Fruth Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $243.01 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $244.11. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $229.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.90.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s 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 $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.