Summit Global Investments Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Summit Global Investments cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,601 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.2% of Summit Global Investments’ holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Apple were worth $18,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bensler LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.1% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 132,548 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,768 shares during the last quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 157,689 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,819 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 37,138 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,653,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.5% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 70,476 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,421,000 after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the period. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,992 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $234.40 on Tuesday. 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 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $240.43 and its 200 day moving average is $230.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.