Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.

Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,422 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.9% of Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $250.42 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $238.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.58. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 163,435 shares of company stock valued at $39,376,002 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s 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 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.