Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Reduced by JLB & Associates Inc.

JLB & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,001 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.2% of JLB & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $40,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% in 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 in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 95,235 shares in the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 387.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gentry Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $876,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $227.01. The company had a trading volume of 14,730,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,315,543. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $227.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.31. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.25.

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.