3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,443 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.9% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $240.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, 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.

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.