Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,033 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.9% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 28.5% in the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 36,291 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,456,000 after acquiring an additional 8,045 shares during the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 91.5% during the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 163,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $37,995,000 after buying an additional 77,914 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 7.2% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 4,294 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 205,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $47,806,000 after buying an additional 2,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 515,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $120,110,000 after buying an additional 9,628 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $223.66 on Friday. The firm’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 quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade 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 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.