MONECO Advisors LLC Has $23.80 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MONECO Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,145 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,984 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 3.0% of MONECO Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 224.4% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management Inc now owns 3,247 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 149,117 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,744,000 after buying an additional 7,883 shares during the period. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,612,000 after buying an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 53,028 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,356,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Apple by 93.4% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 229,378 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,445,000 after acquiring an additional 110,776 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.89. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s 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 $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

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.