Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Cross Staff Investments Inc

Cross Staff Investments Inc cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,460 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 88 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 8.0% of Cross Staff Investments Inc’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Cross Staff Investments Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,000,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 28,470 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the period. Eagle Ridge Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 50,485 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,763,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leading Edge Financial Planning LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Leading Edge Financial Planning LLC now owns 2,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents 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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. 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 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $255.27 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $234.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.91. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 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 $255.65.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.