Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 904,200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 105,900 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.7% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $210,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 51,559 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,013,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 49,109 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the last quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the third quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 17,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,156,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23.0% in the third quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 32,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,599,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 220,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,870,000 after buying an additional 14,616 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $252.20 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $237.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.