Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Cidel Asset Management Inc.

Cidel Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,574 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,536 shares during the quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,790,933,000 after purchasing an additional 984,157 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $267.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.87. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple 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.