Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Reduced by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.4% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $290,506,933,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush set a $350.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.92.

Apple Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of AAPL opened at $271.84 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $269.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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