Northeast Financial Consultants Inc Has $68.81 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,635 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.22 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price of $226.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

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.