Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lowered by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 585,123 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,352 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 19.6% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Capital Investment Counsel Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $136,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $130,629,000 after purchasing an additional 17,519 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 991,643 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $170,047,000 after buying an additional 119,866 shares during the last quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 12,707 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,179,000 after buying an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 49,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,470,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 2,568,133 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $440,383,000 after acquiring an additional 29,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $254.49. The stock had a trading volume of 145,580,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $255.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.97 and a 200 day moving average of $225.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business 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 for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.78.

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.