Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by LGT Financial Advisors LLC

LGT Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,427 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.6% of LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. 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 company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.