Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lessened by Index Fund Advisors Inc.

Index Fund Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,408 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.8% of Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $254.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $255.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, 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 simple moving average is $234.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.70.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays dropped 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

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.