Westchester Capital Management Inc. Sells 18,138 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Westchester Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 18,138 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 8.8% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 264,322 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $61,587,000 after purchasing an additional 3,604 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.6% during the third quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 37,259 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,681,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 14,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 248,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $58,014,000 after purchasing an additional 9,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.87 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $240.63 and a 200-day moving average of $230.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded 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 note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

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.