Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s Largest Position

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,118 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 15.4% of Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $227.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.00. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend 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.