Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Navellier & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,634 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,473 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.8% of Navellier & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,471,257 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $342,803,000 after purchasing an additional 24,899 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3,891.7% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,736,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $404,639,000 after buying an additional 1,693,144 shares in the last quarter. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.2% in the third quarter. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,646 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,645,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 80,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.8% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 183,768 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,818,000 after acquiring an additional 11,722 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $241.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade 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 company 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.