Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Decreased by Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC

Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 181,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 49,433 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.4% of Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $237.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.79. 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 company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.