Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Trimmed by SignalPoint Asset Management LLC

SignalPoint Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,820 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,957 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 9.1% of SignalPoint Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $39,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after buying an additional 485,873 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

AAPL opened at $229.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Apple Company 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.