Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Gateway Wealth Partners LLC

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,293 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,260 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 27.4% in the second quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,343 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after buying an additional 2,658 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the second quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 63,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,046,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 36,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,754,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 19,185 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

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.