Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Cut by Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,669 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,135 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.8% of Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its position 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 buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents 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 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $237.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.