Hourglass Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hourglass Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,387 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 546 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory raised its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.02.

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.