Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Scott & Selber Inc.

Scott & Selber Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,071 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 477 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 8.5% of Scott & Selber Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

AAPL opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $240.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued 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 (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.