Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC

Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 21.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 181,847 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 49,433 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.4% of Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $41,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. StockNews.com cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.47.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $3.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $255.59. The stock had a trading volume of 42,297,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,290,680. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50 day moving average is $237.41 and its 200 day moving average is $227.89. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.