Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Carnegie Investment Counsel cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 649,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,110 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.5% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Apple were worth $151,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $237.33 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.02. 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 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.81. The company has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

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.