Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 473,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,009 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.6% of BNP Paribas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Apple were worth $109,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during 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 period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $241.58 and a 200-day moving average of $230.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Company 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.