Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lowered by Nicollet Investment Management Inc.

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,196 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,548 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.6% of Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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 $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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $241.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.14.

About Apple

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.