Steele Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Steele Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,207 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 910 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.6% of Steele Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Steele Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 847,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $197,447,000 after purchasing an additional 38,519 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 433,946 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,109,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares in the last quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 95,493 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,250,000 after acquiring an additional 4,985 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 72.9% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,971 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.36 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $241.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.75.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.