Provident Wealth Management LLC Sells 831 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Provident Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,658 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 831 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of Provident Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Provident Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $242.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $230.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.62. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $244.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. 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 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.