Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Renaissance Investment Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,718 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,491 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.1% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

Apple stock opened at $237.33 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $229.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.02. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. 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 issued 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. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

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.