Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Clarus Group Inc.

Clarus Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,529 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,279 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.2% of Clarus Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Clarus Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position 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 during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% in 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 period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $248.13 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $250.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $232.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.88.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade 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 worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.