Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 60.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,502 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 246,267 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.6% of Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $37,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Apple by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% during 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 last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after buying an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $239.91 and its 200 day moving average is $229.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.