Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,108 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,454 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.9% of Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in 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 during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $229.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $227.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.40. 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 cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.