Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,516,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 472,925 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.1% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.08% of Apple worth $2,683,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $247.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $231.63 and a 200-day moving average of $222.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $250.80.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.