Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Independent Investors Inc.

Independent Investors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,191,039 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 56.2% of Independent Investors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Independent Investors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $277,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $406,099,000 after buying an additional 95,235 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, 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. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.47.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $3.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $255.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,297,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,290,680. The business's fifty day moving average is $237.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm'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 value 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 trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last three months. Company 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.