Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 772,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,800 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.1% of Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $180,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $241.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % 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, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value 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 represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.