Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Decreased by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 21,321 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.6% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $138,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 252.3% during 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 period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.99.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $223.83 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.82. 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 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. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.