EWG Elevate Inc. Sells 1,729 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

EWG Elevate Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,729 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.3% of EWG Elevate Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. EWG Elevate Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $229.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. 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 data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.