Cortland Associates Inc. MO Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cortland Associates Inc. MO trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.8% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third 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 buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.33. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

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.