Oak Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Oak Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,863 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,450 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 12.4% of Oak Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Oak Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $34,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $229.87. 38,168,252 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,855,068. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. 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 firm earned $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.