Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Bard Financial Services Inc.

Bard Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 55.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,880 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 313,302 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 12.0% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $57,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.59 and a 200 day moving average of $217.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.