Brooktree Capital Management Sells 1,546 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brooktree Capital Management reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,103 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,546 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.9% of Brooktree Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Brooktree Capital Management's holdings in Apple were worth $2,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew 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 worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,035,283,000 after buying an additional 432,140 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $238.02.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $241.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This 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 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.