Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Royal Fund Management LLC

Royal Fund Management LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,023 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after buying an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 387.3% in the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after buying an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 200,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,650,000 after acquiring an additional 51,842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $235.06 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $228.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.66, a PEG ratio of 2.25 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % 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, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.