Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 293,839 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,457 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.7% of SouthState Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Optas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.8% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 70,806 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,913,000 after purchasing an additional 6,896 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 79,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,726,000 after buying an additional 5,386 shares during the period. Keb Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC now owns 13,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,897,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 666,570 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $140,393,000 after buying an additional 22,386 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 9,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $238.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.70. 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.

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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s 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. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. 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.