Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,235 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,772 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.9% of Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during 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. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings 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 during the period. Cordant Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush raised their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

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.