Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,568 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,314 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.2% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $59,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Bancorporation Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the third quarter. West Bancorporation Inc. now owns 15,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,507,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 15,923 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.7% in the third quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 41,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,662,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares during the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the third quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 25,647 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value 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. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.65.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.