abrdn plc Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

abrdn plc cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,816,397 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 629,717 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.5% of abrdn plc’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.08% of Apple worth $2,976,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.7% during 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 raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.89. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

Apple 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.