GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,984 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,495 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.8% of GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $39,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % 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 worth $117,004,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $258.20 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a PEG 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $258.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

About Apple

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.