ABLE Financial Group LLC Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ABLE Financial Group LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 276 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.1% of ABLE Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. ABLE Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.2% in the second 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, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Apple by 14.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $234.40 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $240.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.