Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Reduced by Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC

Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 449,142 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,737 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.3% of Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $104,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Apple by 22,870.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,496,738,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416,922 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 stock was 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 trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $240.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. 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 previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.