Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 1,265 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 167,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,265 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.4% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $39,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in 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 buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $228.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.