AHL Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

AHL Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,307 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,850 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.0% of AHL Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. AHL Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $240.18 and its 200-day moving average is $229.95. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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. 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 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.