Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,879 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,103 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.5% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake 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 period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after buying an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.1 %

AAPL opened at $258.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $258.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $235.93 and its 200 day moving average is $226.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued 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 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction 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 $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.