Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 39.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 664,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 433,964 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.4% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $154,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,926,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 15.5% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 28,476 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 266,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,039,000 after purchasing an additional 13,855 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 24,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,785,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 179,826 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $41,899,000 after buying an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction 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 $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $228.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.64.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.