Ceera Investments LLC Has $8.45 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ceera Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,246 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,005 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.2% of Ceera Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $240.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.69. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % 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.

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.