Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ellis Investment Partners LLC

Ellis Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 98,114 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.5% of Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Alpha Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.9% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,192,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $510,930,000 after buying an additional 160,910 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,433 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 39,704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,251,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $259.02 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $237.00 and its 200 day moving average is $227.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

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.