Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lessened by Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,380 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,550 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.68 and its 200-day simple moving average 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 cap of $3.68 trillion, a PE 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 announced its quarterly 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. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.03.

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.