Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lessened by Smart Portfolios LLC

Smart Portfolios LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 373 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.5% of Smart Portfolios LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Smart Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. New Perspectives Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the second quarter. New Perspectives Inc now owns 12,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 38,077 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,020,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 55,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,627,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 12,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,662,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.95. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.