Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,230 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,156 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.2% of Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 22,870.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $834,368,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $237.41 and its 200 day moving average is $227.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.