Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,245 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 8.2% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

AAPL opened at $254.49 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $255.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $234.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple 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.