Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 523,193 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,586 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.2% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $121,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after buying an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 35.6% in the 2nd quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 51,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,951,000 after buying an additional 13,638 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,069 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,438,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 106,350 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,400,000 after buying an additional 3,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 39,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,269,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, 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 sale 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 Apple 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 transaction, the insider now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $239.36 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

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.