Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lessened by Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,118 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 15.4% of Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $227.18 and its 200 day moving average is $217.00. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

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.