Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Trimmed by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 755,304 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,808 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.4% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $175,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.00 on Monday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $241.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.84. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.