Ithaka Group LLC Sells 3,201 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ithaka Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,432 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,201 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.7% of Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $241.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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.