JLB & Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

JLB & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,001 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.2% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $140,000. 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 valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.34 and a 200-day moving average of $217.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 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 $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. 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 firm posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.