Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Cut by Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 141,973 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.2% of Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 17,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 32,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,599,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 220,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,870,000 after acquiring an additional 14,616 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 197,176 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $45,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argyle Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,745 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.20 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $237.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.89. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.48, 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.