Northstar Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 97,493 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,596 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.6% of Northstar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Northstar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third 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 period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Apple by 22,870.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14.0% in 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 owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

Apple stock opened at $242.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 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.