Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.4% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the second 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 during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in Apple by 15.2% in the third 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 period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $247.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $250.80. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.