Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,617 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 613 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 10.0% of Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in 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 buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $254.49 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.70. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $255.00. The company has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

About Apple

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.