Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 285,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,564 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.2% of Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $66,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Investments & Financial Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.4% in the first quarter. Investments & Financial Planning LLC now owns 2,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,889,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 470,790 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $80,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 26,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,618,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $234.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.23. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s 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.