Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lowered by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 370,553 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,303 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 9.6% of Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $86,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after buying an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $248.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $232.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $250.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

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.