Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Cut by Renaissance Investment Group LLC

Renaissance Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,718 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,491 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.1% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Apple by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after acquiring an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 37.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 278,379 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $47,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,939 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 12,686 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,559,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Spectrum Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Spectrum Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $237.33 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.81. The company has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.