Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is North Star Investment Management Corp.’s Largest Position

North Star Investment Management Corp. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,694 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.2% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Apple were worth $60,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Partners Group Inc grew its position in Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 106,714 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $24,864,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the period. Falcon Wealth Planning grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 269,437 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,458,210 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $339,755,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 17.0% during the third quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 243,299 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,689,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

Apple stock opened at $242.70 on Friday. 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 one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.