Empowered Funds LLC Has $99.45 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,826 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 17,659 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.6% of Empowered Funds LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $99,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Apple by 22,870.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,496,738,000 after buying an additional 3,416,922 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $223.66 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.14.

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.