Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,432 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,035,283,000 after purchasing an additional 432,140 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $241.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.85. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.02.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 corporate insiders.

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.