Martin Investment Management LLC Has $23.34 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Martin Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,027 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.7% of Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 143,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,269,000 after purchasing an additional 12,848 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 53,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,258,000 after buying an additional 5,233 shares during the last quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,073 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,700,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 51,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,803,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $242.70 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $239.57 and its 200-day moving average is $229.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Company 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.