Successful Portfolios LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Successful Portfolios LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,911 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.5% of Successful Portfolios LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.7% during 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 during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.2% during 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Apple by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 200,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $46,650,000 after buying an additional 51,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $237.33 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.59. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.68.

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.