Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 5,510 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,557 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,510 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.3% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.66 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.14.

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.