Riverwater Partners LLC Has $904,000 Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Riverwater Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $588,952,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $254.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $255.00.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

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.