Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Reduced by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 24,431 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings 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 worth $4,214,222,000 after buying an additional 2,359,409 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $259.02 on Friday. 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 $260.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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.