Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s Largest Position

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,108 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,106 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.5% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 289,507 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 583,048 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $122,802,000 after buying an additional 20,160 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,241,000. New England Research & Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 36,253 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,636,000 after acquiring an additional 3,551 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Apple by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 289,575 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,990,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $258.20 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $235.93 and its 200 day moving average is $226.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $258.21. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.