Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Cut by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 89,008 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 17,342 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after buying an additional 3,416,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $240.63 and its 200 day moving average is $230.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio 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.