Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Verity Asset Management Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Verity Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,046 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.3% of Verity Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,870 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,921,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,543.1% during the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 100,346 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,135,000 after purchasing an additional 94,239 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 33,678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,093,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $236.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.