Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lessened by Columbus Macro LLC

Columbus Macro LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,590 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 0.9% of Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $248.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $232.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.64. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $250.80. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business 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 revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

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.