Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Manitou Investment Management Ltd.

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,187 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 18,849 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 7.7% of Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 810,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $188,916,000 after buying an additional 13,003 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,033 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,668,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 28,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Apple by 7.4% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 482,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $112,402,000 after purchasing an additional 33,187 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $243.85 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $238.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.58. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio 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.