Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,572 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,396 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.7% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third 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 during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% in the third 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. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $233.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.52. 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 company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other 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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average 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.