Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Modus Advisors LLC

Modus Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,688 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.8% of Modus Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Modus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $234.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $228.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.12. 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 posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

About Apple

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.