Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s 9th Largest Position

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,924 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,987 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.9% of Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 149,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,768,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group raised 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. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.68.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $239.59 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $240.79.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.