Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Trimmed by Naviter Wealth LLC

Naviter Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,859 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,184 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.3% of Naviter Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised 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 lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $242.84 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $244.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents 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 valued at $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.