Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,213 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,815 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.2% of Foster Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Foster Group Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $32,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $229.87. 38,168,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,855,068. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $227.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.06. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company 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 for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 489,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.25.

About Apple

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.