Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Trimmed by Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 507,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,911 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.7% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Apple were worth $118,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $242.65 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $242.76. 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 market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $229.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.74.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value 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 trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last three months. 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.