Essex Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322,522 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 21,757 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.6% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $76,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Financial Symmetry Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. Financial Symmetry Inc now owns 11,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 51,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,573 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 41,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,696,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,000,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $421,296,000 after purchasing an additional 45,968 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in Apple by 8.2% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 160,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,317,000 after buying an additional 12,086 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $259.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $237.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Corporate 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.