4,685 Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 261,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,685 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.1% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $87,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $30,443,242,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $13,658,359,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $10,588,946,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Top Apple Stories

These are some of the AAPL stories that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: China Renaissance upgraded Apple to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $425, citing growth potential from Apple’s first foldable iPhone. The bullish outlook helped support shares. Analyst raises Apple price target to $425
• Positive Sentiment: Reports point to strong iPhone demand and a record quarterly revenue result, while the foldable iPhone could provide a new growth opportunity. A faster Siri AI roadmap may also strengthen Apple’s longer-term product story.
• Negative Sentiment: Memory-chip prices are creating a margin headwind. Apple’s December-quarter gross-margin outlook of 45%–46% was reported below analysts’ 46.3% expectation, tempering the positive impact of strong sales. Apple faces memory-cost pressure despite record quarter

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $355.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $5.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.65, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.42 and a 1 year high of $355.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $347.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Timothy Cook sold 191,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total value of $63,846,078.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 290,212 shares of company stock worth $96,639,685 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Apple

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple’s devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.