Apple Inc. $AAPL is Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s Largest Position

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,520 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 78,054 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 19.2% of Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its holdings in Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Melius upped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

AAPL stock opened at $272.41 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $277.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

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.