Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,276,209 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 45,123 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 8.7% of Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Apple were worth $297,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $1,603,000 after purchasing 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 first 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 buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $248.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.88. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $250.80.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.