Arjuna Capital Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Arjuna Capital trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 138,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,953 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 8.4% of Arjuna Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $32,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Apple by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,202,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,306,455,000 after purchasing an additional 48,719 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in Apple by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 124,883 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,303,000 after purchasing an additional 3,727 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.6% in the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 28,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,060,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2,181.9% in the second quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 63,826 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,443,000 after buying an additional 61,029 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

AAPL opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $241.01 and its 200 day moving average is $230.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Apple 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.