Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. Sells 901 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,957 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 901 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.7% of Patriot Investment Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the second 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 shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $242.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.74. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. 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 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $242.76.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.