Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lessened by Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV

Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,995 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.3% of Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Olympiad Research LP increased its stake in Apple by 78.8% during the third quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 2,551 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 7.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,886,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,099,594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,062 shares during the last quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,501 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,087,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 123,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 5.8% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $240.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.