Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,115,430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,185 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.0% of Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $259,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Apple Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $228.26 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $240.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.57. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict 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 given 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 dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.