Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,873 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,396 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.1% of World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leeward Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 45,139 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,517,000 after buying an additional 2,786 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 12.9% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,334,649 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $543,973,000 after acquiring an additional 266,557 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 5,920,446 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,379,464,000 after acquiring an additional 140,969 shares in the last quarter. FIDELIS iM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $255,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Apple by 14.0% during the third 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 last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $242.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $239.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.57. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 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 trade represents 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 this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.