Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Trimmed by Patron Partners LLC

Patron Partners LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,930 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,277 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.0% of Patron Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 356,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $83,154,000 after acquiring an additional 87,839 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 419,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,726,000 after acquiring an additional 15,413 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 660,153 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $153,816,000 after acquiring an additional 16,091 shares in the last quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Apple by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors now owns 8,591 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $298,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.72. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.