Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Reduced by Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 310,744 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,667 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.2% of Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $72,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory grew its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $254.49. 145,580,875 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $255.00. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.