Independent Investors Inc. Has $277.51 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Independent Investors Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,191,039 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 56.2% of Independent Investors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Independent Investors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $277,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.3% in the second quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,427 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 31,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,632,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 156,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,074,000 after buying an additional 5,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 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 $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $237.41 and a 200-day moving average of $227.79.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

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.