Northcape Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,208 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.1% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $223.66 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.77.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Apple Company 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.