Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 336 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,114 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.5% of Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Alpha Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.7% during the third quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Apple by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,192,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $510,930,000 after buying an additional 160,910 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,433 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 39,704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,251,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, 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 transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $259.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.21. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

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.