Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Continental Investors Services Inc.

Continental Investors Services Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,048 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.3% of Continental Investors Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Continental Investors Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $3,331,000. Rice Partnership LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the second quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 195,170 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $41,107,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 29,334 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,178,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the second quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 31,205 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,572,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 15.5% in the second quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 146,132 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,778,000 after buying an additional 19,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $241.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $240.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.34. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.