Martin Capital Advisors LLP Sells 365 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Martin Capital Advisors LLP lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Apple makes up 23.2% of Martin Capital Advisors LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Martin Capital Advisors LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $32,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Apple by 158.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 161.2% in 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 last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $242.65 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.74. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $242.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.