Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Divergent Planning LLC

Divergent Planning LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,467 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.8% of Divergent Planning LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Divergent Planning LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Apple by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 128,418 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services grew its stake in Apple by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 96,257 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,633,000 after purchasing an additional 12,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KFA Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,304 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

AAPL opened at $229.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.81. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate 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.