Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 260,223 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,271 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.7% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Apple were worth $60,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in 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 buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $834,368,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $588,952,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.1 %

Apple stock opened at $258.20 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.77. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $258.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s 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.