Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Lynch & Associates IN

Lynch & Associates IN lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,632 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.3% of Lynch & Associates IN’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted 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 worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during 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 period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $242.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $244.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % 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 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

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.