LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Has $53.22 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,400 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,356 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.3% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $53,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the first quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,876,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 8.7% in the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 107,010 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,350,000 after buying an additional 8,602 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 30.9% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 4,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors raised its stake in Apple by 5.6% in the first quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 74,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,813,000 after buying an additional 3,966 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $242.84 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $244.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.62.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. 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.