Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Ellenbecker Investment Group

Ellenbecker Investment Group reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,291 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,525 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.6% of Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $834,368,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $230.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $248.21.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.