Monte Financial Group LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Monte Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,079 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 324 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,526,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,848 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $254.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $234.97 and its 200-day moving average is $225.48. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $255.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.