Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 285,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,547 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.7% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $66,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kowal Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the third quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 49,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC increased its position in Apple by 39.7% during the third quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 142,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,296,000 after purchasing an additional 40,601 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 348,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $81,292,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $20,737,000. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 57,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,340,000 after buying an additional 5,493 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $242.84 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $244.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Moffett Nathanson cut their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.