Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Has $7.76 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,293 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,260 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.1% of Gateway Wealth Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $3.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $252.20. 35,435,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,203,777. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $237.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.