Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Chapman Investment Management LLC

Chapman Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,439 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 630 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.7% of Chapman Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. EMC Capital Management grew its stake in Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 186,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $43,353,000 after buying an additional 15,079 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 238,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $55,665,000 after acquiring an additional 23,344 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 121,519 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $238.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.03.

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.