Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.

Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,145 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 16,150 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 10.8% of Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $236.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.84.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, 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 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.