Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. Apple makes up 14.8% of Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in 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 valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % 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 worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $243.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $244.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

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.