Constitution Capital LLC Sells 3,807 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Constitution Capital LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,944 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,807 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.5% of Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.65 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $242.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.74.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.